Most Unlikely of Friends
by Derekloffin
Summary: Is it possible for two heated rivals to become the closest of friends? When Akane and Shampoo receive a pair of strange bracelets they find themselves living new lives in an altered world where they are indeed just that. However, with only one Akane and one Shampoo for two worlds, they now find themselves caught between them.
1. Prologue

Once upon a time, I started my fanfiction writing career with a story called Most Unlikely of Friends. Over the course of it's creation I rewrote it several times, changing many a thing. Well, I finally got it done, but since the second extension of the story I've switched over to prose style from the original script style, and frankly I can't stand reading script anymore so I'm going to give this story a wee bit of a face lift. For the most part I plan to keep the existing story intact, with some obvious edits, and a few added scenes for some clarity here and there (often I planned to talk about stuff later but never got to it, so might as well fix it up in the first place). However, there are going to be some revisions, hopefully for the better, either due to the new format, or more simply because I've thought up something I think is a bit better that still fits. I'll try not to pull a Star Wars: Special Edition here, but one can never tell.

Just some pattern notes

%Chapter info.

**"Chinese speech"**

"Japanese speech"

'thoughts'

Okay, that should be all, so read on in good health.

Ranma 1/2: Altered Destinies, Most Unlikely of Friends

%Prologue

It was just one of those days.

XXXXX

It was one of those days that made Shampoo wish she had not gotten out of bed that morning. Oh, it had started well enough, but as of this moment Shampoo was ready to declare the whole day a total loss.

It was unfortunate too. Shampoo had been given the day off work by her Great grandmother, and had decided to use her free time to get Ranma on a date. Her chances weren't the greatest. Actually, they were abysmal, but she knew this. Without some kind of bargaining chip, Shampoo had not really managed any significant time with Ranma, but it never hurt to try. Besides, she was increasingly coming to the conclusion that unless she did get Ranma on a date without any strings attached, she'd never make any progress with the boy.

So, she set out that morning to seek out her love and ask him out with the help of a little fresh ramen to appeal to the boy's heart through his stomach. It turned out she found him wandering the neighborhood shortly after an argument with his supposed fiancee and he was quite angry with her. Shampoo had read enough stories about using such a time to get an opening that it seemed that she just might have gotten lucky today, but such was not the case. She was just in the process of asking him out when said same fiancee showed her face. She immediately had one of her usual fits at seeing Shampoo together with Ranma and proceeded to douse them both with a bucket of cold water.

Shampoo hated that. Two cursed transformations immediately followed the dousing and Ranma, who was deadly scared of cats, did not take it well that Shampoo, now a cat, was hanging onto his arm, and bolted down the street. Unfortunately, at the break neck pace Ranma was going, Shampoo could do little but hang on until Ranma slowed enough for her to jump off. Naturally, it took Ranma nearly 10 blocks to finally ram square into a wall which ended up knocking both of them cold.

By the time Shampoo came to, Ranma was long gone. Worse still, by the time she got back to her clothes, they were either missing, or ruined by passers by. Needless to say, Shampoo was not happy.

She had finally made her way home, transformed back to normal and got herself a fresh set of clothes, but her optimistic mood of the morning was shot to pieces. In fact, it took a great deal of self control not to grab her sword and go fiancee hunting. However, she restrained the urge, and instead set out to calm herself with a walk through the market.

XXXXX

It was one of those days that made Akane wish she had not gotten out of bed that morning. Oh, it had started well enough, but as of this moment Akane was ready to declare the whole day a total loss.

The day had started with such promise too. Akane had been practicing for weeks, with the aid of her late mother's cookbook, to cook up the perfect meal. Well, not really. It was a simple cheese omelet. She had wanted to try something more involved, but after some friendly persuasion from her aunt Nodoka and Kasumi she had restrained herself down to the simpler stuff.

Even that, however, had taken her weeks to get right. She had botched it so many times that she was becoming incredibly discouraged, but with a great deal of patience, and following the instructions in the cookbook to the letter, she had finally got it right and was ready to show it off.

And what was that jerk Ranma's reaction to several weeks of her effort? Him and his stupid father knocked the newly finished dish directly into the family pond and ruined it utterly. Needless to say, Akane was furious. An inevitable argument broke out, which ended with Akane chasing Ranma out of the house.

However, given an hour to calm down, Akane was just about ready to forgive him. It was after all an accident, and now that she knew how to do it, she could simply make another. So, sucking up her pride, Akane had set out to find Ranma and apologize. Well, it didn't work out that way.

Instead of finding Ranma mopping about, she found him gleefully eating some Ramen provided by a certain Chinese hussy. Akane's mood was already tenuous to start with and this sight was just too much for her. So, she had grabbed a bucket of water and doused the pair of them. The result was instantaneous as both were transformed and with Ranma being deathly afraid of the Chinese girl's cursed cat form, she ran off, with the other still holding onto him.

Akane didn't stick around to see the aftermath, and simply headed off home, although she didn't make it. About half way there she ran into one of the few things in Nerima that could annoy her more than Ranma, Kuno. After kicking him into the stratosphere, she found herself near tears from so much frustration in one day so she changed her destination to the local marketplace to cool off.

XXXXX

So, it was thus that these two girls were soon both making their way through the crowded market, neither in a good mood, and neither aware of the other's presence in the same place. Such was soon to end, though, as both soon caught sight of a new business in the neighborhood. It was a jewelry store, with a wide assortment of colorful and no doubt expensive articles on display.

For Shampoo, it was a welcome distraction. When she spotted it, she immediately headed inside, thinking that if nothing else, perhaps she could get herself something nice to make up for the miserable day she was having.

Akane was more pensive. Her family was not exactly rolling in money, so she doubted she could afford anything, and besides that she was not one to go around in such expensive things anyway. However, in the end curiosity and the need for something to busy herself with got the better of her and she headed inside using a separate door.

Neither noticed the other enter, and both were soon engrossed in examining the wares around them. Each girl was walking down opposite sides of a display when they at last ran into each other at the end, and the look they gave each other promised a lot of trouble.

Off to the side, watching the whole scene, a man smiled and said to himself. "Looks like I'm on."

XXXXX

"What you do here?" Shampoo demanded after a moment, looking for any excuse from the other girl simply to clock her and get some satisfaction for earlier.

"I'm just looking around. That okay with you?" Akane responded back in challenge, not about to be threatened by the amazon.

A tense moment followed, each girl subconsciously clenching their fists in readiness for a fight. However, with no further words, better judgment temporarily won out as Shampoo turned away with a huff. Akane soon echoed the gesture.

At that moment the man arrived, brimming from ear to ear with a wide smile which he greeted the two girls with. "Hello ladies. May I help you two?"

"Actually, we're not together," Akane pointed out, somewhat calmed.

"Oh, I see," the man replied thoughtfully and looked at each girl, both doing everything they could not to look at the other. "But, you do seem to know each other," the man implied with a raised eyebrow.

"Shampoo know Akane, but no like!"

"Same here," Akane responded in kind, finally causing the two girls to turn back and eye the other angrily.

The man simply continued to smile as the silent confrontation went on. "Out of curiosity, does this have something to do with a common love interest?" The question surprised both girls, causing them to momentarily forget the other and focus on the man. "Ah, such things can easily get in the way of friendships."

Both girls looked shocked at the very notion. "Shampoo no want be friend with Akane," Shampoo was the first to say, sneering at Akane as she did.

Akane returned the look. "Who would want to be your friend anyway?" Akane asked rhetorically which only served to anger the amazon more.

"Ladies, please, there is no need for that," the man interjected, sensing the anger between the two was nearing its boiling point. "Just because you two are in competition with one another does not mean you have to be enemies."

"Who said anything about being in competition? She can have the jerk for all I care," Akane said with a huff, but Shampoo was not impressed and let out a disbelieving laugh.

"Akane lie! Akane do care for Ranma, else why so jealous?" Shampoo asked, easing a little of her own anger by twisting the screws on a subject she knew Akane hated. She got the appropriate reaction as Akane turned sharply to confront her.

"What?" Akane exclaimed. "You're nuts if you think I actually like that pervert!"

Sensing an opening, Shampoo pressed on. "If do not, why keep Ranma from Shampoo?"

Akane was temporarily caught by her own words. She hesitated then changed topics. "You just think you can take anything you want?"

"Ladies, please," the man again urged from the side. 'This is may be tougher than I thought'. Both girls spared the man a glance, but finally turned their back on the other in disgust. "Don't you both think you'd be much happier if you could just put aside this hate?"

"It's her fault!" Akane accused. "She's always around where's she's not wanted-"

"Shampoo no care what Akane want!" Shampoo countered. "Ranma is Shampoo's husband."

"He is not!" Akane retorted, turning back to Shampoo, but Shampoo refused to face her.

Before the confrontation could escalate any further, the man once again interjected. "Come now, look at want this is doing to you both. I'm willing to bet both of you would be much better off if you could just get along."

Both girls momentarily looked at each other as they mulled over this proposal. Akane responded first by saying, "I'm willing, but Shampoo..." She shook her head as she trailed off.

Shampoo was momentarily surprised by this. It was not the response she was expecting from her rival. Not to be outdone, Shampoo quickly spoke up. "Shampoo can do, Akane can not."

Hearing a clear challenge in the words, Akane grew angry once again. "Hey, it's you who is always causing trouble!"

"Do not!" Shampoo countered.

"Do too!"

"Hah, Akane just jealous!" Shampoo taunted.

"Stop saying that! I am not jealous!" Akane replied angrily.

"Please, please, ladies, there's no need for this," the main said as he finally stepped between the two. "Couldn't you both just put aside your differences for a while," he asked each girl, giving them both a concerned look.

The anger flowing between them continued for a moment, but slowly eased as each girl considered the proposal. Again Shampoo was surprised as Akane was first to speak.

"It won't work but I could try," the youngest Tendo said, eying Shampoo in a way that said 'like you would say that'.

Shampoo again found herself beat to the punch by her rival. The subject matter did not matter to her. Being bested by Akane at anything was just not to be allowed. So, it took only a second for Shampoo to nod and add her own consent. "Shampoo willing."

Nodding approvingly, the man turned and headed over to a nearby counter. "Good. Just stay here for a moment." The girls watched as he looked through the cabinet and finally came up with a pair of bracelets, each ornate and polished to a fine golden shine. One was decorated with long serpent-like dragons coiled together, looking out in a proud manner. The other was decorated with falcons, together in flight. Handing the dragon bracelet to Akane, and the falcon bracelet to Shampoo, the man began to speak.

"Those, girls, are called the bracelets of friendship. Surely a loose translation of their true title, but perhaps an apt one. It is said, long ago, that the leaders of two warring states had these two bracelets made as a gesture so that they might end the senseless conflict with each other. On the day they exchanged them, the war ended, and the two enjoyed a lifetime of friendship with the other. Some even claim that the good will that existed between the two was instilled in these very bracelets and that any two people who willingly exchange them will become lifelong friends themselves."

Both girls looked at the bracelets skeptically as the man finished the tale. "Of course, that's just a superstition, but I've never had cause to test it out. What do you say? If you really mean to give getting along a try, I'll give you those bracelets on one condition, you exchange them, just as those leaders once did."

Again both girls looked skeptical. The bracelets were clearly expensive and would no doubt make valuable possessions. There seemed no true mystical properties to them, but one could never be sure. After a moment, both girls looked at the other in consideration.

This time it was Shampoo's turn to surprise Akane as the amazon stretched out her hand, offering her bracelet to Akane. Akane remained uncertain for a second. 'What's there to be afraid of?' Akane asked herself, and coming up with no answer, mirrored Shampoo's gesture.

The two girls completed the switch, and feeling no different, turned to the man. "Now that wasn't so hard was it? No, of course not," the man said with a smile.

"Are you sure we can keep these? They must be very expensive," Akane asked.

"Priceless, but I'm sure."

"You very generous," Shampoo said with a smile.

"Think nothing of it. My payment is to see two people end an unnecessary quarrel. Now, is their anything else I can help you two with...?"

XXXXX

A short while later, their moods modestly improved, the two girls left the jewelry shop and went their separate ways. Neither they nor the passers by noticed as the jewelry store began to fade out, replaced by an empty room.

The man remained for a moment, nodding to himself. "Good luck girls. You have a rough road ahead, but I think you'll like the results."

"Yeah, we'll see, won't we," a mysterious female voice added, to which the man only nodded as he too faded out.

XXXXX

That night Akane was lying in her bed wearing the bracelet of falcons. She still felt no different than when she started the day and as such was ready to dismiss the whole legend as a fanciful tale.

'Me and Shampoo friends, I don't think so. We'll be fighting within a week,' she thought to herself as a yawn overcame her. She rolled over to her night lamp and turned it off. "Oh well," she said quietly as darkness enveloped her. As she drifted off to sleep, though, she couldn't help but feel just a little disappointed.

XXXXX

Across town Shampoo was in a similar state of readiness for bed, also wearing her bracelet. 'I wonder if the legend is true?' she thought as she laid back, no stranger to the mystical herself. Yet, she too felt no different towards Akane than when the day started, so she quickly dismissed it.

'Akane's always in my way. I could never could like her,' she thought with a frown, but it didn't last, replaced soon with a slightly sad look. 'Though, I'm tired of fighting all time, might be nice to stop, to have a friend,' she thought, remembering just how isolated she felt in Japan a lot of the time. 'But Akane...' Shampoo shook her head, and closed her eyes, soon falling asleep.

XXXXX

Some time passed as the night dragged on and both girls slept soundly. Then the two bracelets began to glow dimly in unison. The glow gradually increased in intensity but neither girl was awoken by the light. Finally the glow filled each girl's room and in a flash, they were gone.

XXXXX

Approximately ten years ago, the Tendo home was being consumed by misery. It had been just a short few days since the funeral for Kimiko but the passage of time seemed to do little for the pain of the loss. Soun was currently in his room, regarding an old photo of Kimiko from a happier time. She was smiling, a smile that would normally light Soun's heart, but since her death all he could think when seeing it is realize how he would never see the real thing ever again. Try as he might, he could not seem to shake the despair. Adding to his depression was knowing that his daughters were in need of his support at this time, but he just couldn't find the strength to support even himself. Everything he tried only seemed to intensify the feelings as old memories overwhelmed him. Even the ultimate refuge, his martial arts, failed him, as every time he went to the dojo to burn off a little energy he would remember the times he had shared with Kimiko in that same dojo. It was simply too much to bear.

Setting the picture on the nearby dresser Soun thought to himself, 'What am I to do, Kimiko? I just don't think I have the strength to go on without you.'

Outside, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane Tendo were gathered around the common room table of their house each looking little better than their father. While Kasumi sat reading her mother's old cook book which she had stumbled upon earlier that day, Akane and Nabiki sat staring out at the pond. Silence ensued as each girl pondered their new life. The tears were now done with, used up at the funeral. All there was left was to move on.

"Where is father?" Kasumi asked the others to break the silence that was gripping them.

"In his room, I think," Nabiki responded and sighed. Kasumi could only nod in response as once more silence gripped them.

The mood was finally broken by a knock on the door. All three girls got up, and Kasumi took the lead to see who it was. She opened the door to greet an older man in a suit who looked down at them with a smile. For just a second Akane thought she knew this man, but could not say how.

"Hello girls, is this the Tendo residence?"

"Yes," Kasumi responded.

"Who is it, Kasumi?" Soun called out as he came down the hall.

"Ah good. Is Kimiko Tendo home?" the man asked and gained numerous downcast looks from the girls. The man looked confused as Soun came up.

"I'm sorry, Kimiko is... was my wife. She passed away a week ago," Soun explained.

"Oh goodness, my apologies," the man said in honest regret. "We've been trying to contact her for several... but of course, I'm sure you've been busy. My condolences. I will return-"

"No, it's alright," Soun quickly said, looking for something to distract himself. "What is it you came about?"

"Well, your wife entered a poetry contest about a month ago and her entry won the second prize."

"Really?" Nabiki said aloud, looking a bit cheered up, but was quickly silenced by her father with a wave of his hand.

"Yes. Of course, as her husband you are equally eligible to accept the prize. I know now is not-"

"It's alright. What is the prize?" Soun asked.

"A one week holiday in Hong Kong. The ticket is good for you and your whole family." The Tendos were surprised by this, and the girls looked up at their father quizzically, wondering how he would respond. "Unfortunately the trip leaves in two days. I could see if I could reimburse you for the value-"

"No," Soun said suddenly, and looked down at his daughters. They exchanged a long look and finally the father looked back up with a weary smile. "I will take the ticket. It is Kimiko's last gift to her family, and there is no reason to waste such a gift."

The man returned the smile. "Of course, I'll see to the arrangements immediately."

XXXXX

A one week trip to Hong Kong soon turned into a small excursion into nearby China, which then turned into a nine year trip throughout China and the Far East. So, when a certain young martial artist arrived in Nerima, he was in for a bit of a change.

%End prologue

A few quick notes as we bring this part to a close. I've added in a bit of explanation for just how the Tendo's ended up in China. This is one of those things I always intended to explain better, but never did. Not much else to say here except special thanks to Ganheim for pre-reading and such.


	2. Chapter 1

%Chapter 1

The date was a few scant months ago. Inside the Tendo common room, Soun Tendo read a post-card with a panda on the back with a joy on his face. "At last, Ranma is coming. How I've waited for this day." He said as tears of joy began to flow down his cheek. "And soon, very soon, Ranma will be here." Soun turned the post-card over one last time then stood up. "Listen up! Kasumi! Nabiki! Shampoo! Akane!"

XXXXX

Inside the main dojo a long haired Akane dressed in her training gi faced a number of bricks placed across from her. Her eyes were closed in deep concentration. A moment passed quietly then a brief breeze seemed to surround her. At that moment, Akane opened her hand and thrust her hands forwards towards the bricks. An instant later the bricks shattered, much to Akane's satisfaction.

She looked across the dojo at a small pink and white cat, otherwise known as Shampoo, which lay lazily watching the display. "Not bad huh?"

Shampoo nodded just as Nabiki snapped a picture from outside gaining both girls attention. "There you go again, Akane. This is exactly the type of thing that makes all the boys think you're so weird."

"Good!" Akane replied with a slightly disgusted look. "I'd hate for them to think I was normal!"

"Really?" Nabiki responded dryly but got no reply. Instead Akane returned to setting up a fresh set of bricks. "Well, since you didn't hear, daddy wants to talk to us. Something about a new male visitor," she said then left with a smile.

Akane frowned and shook her head. 'I wonder what this is all about,' she thought then looked over at Shampoo-cat who appeared to be pondering the same question. "I guess we'd better go find out what's happening." Shampoo nodded in response and followed Akane out.

The pair arrived in the common room a moment later, Shampoo jumping up on the table to curl up, while Akane sat down next to her. Kasumi arrived next.

"Do you know what's going on?" Akane asked, but Kasumi only gave a confused smile in response. "Great. Where's Nabiki?"

"She went upstairs to change."

"What for?"

"I'm not sure."

Frowning, Akane leaned over to Shampoo. "**Something tells me Nabiki knows more than she's letting on.**" Shampoo nodded in agreement then looked up as Nabiki entered the room in a kimono. "What the... Nabiki?"

"Don't tell me you're going to meet our guest in that get-up, Akane?"

"You didn't say he was coming now!" Akane protested. "And besides, why should I get dressed up anyway? Not like I care."

Nabiki ignored her younger sister, sitting down next to her as Soun finally came in.

"Oh good, you're all here."

"Alright, what's going on?" Akane asked impatiently.

"Your fiance will arrive soon," Soun explained as he sat down opposite them, shocking all the girls save Nabiki.

Kasumi was the first to respond. "Fiance?"

Soun nodded. "Yes, the son of a very good friend of mine. His name is Ranma Saotome. If one of you four girls were to marry him and carry on this hall then the Tendo family legacy would be secure."

Akane finally shook herself out of her shock. "We're supposed to marry some guy we've never met? You got to be kidding!"

"Maybe you should wait until you meet him. You never now, he might be really cute," Nabiki said as she leaned over to Akane then addressed her father. "Right daddy?"

Soun laughed in response. "He'll be here any minute," he said as he got up and looked over the pond. "Ranma and his father have been on a training mission. Recently, they crossed through China."

"Ooo, China," Nabiki gushed.

Akane was less impressed, looking off to the side with an open frown. "Big deal! We've been all over China."

"Well, at least we know he's well traveled, Akane," Kasumi pointed out, and then turned back to her father. "Father, how old is this Ranma?"

"Is he cute?" Nabiki asked eagerly.

"Younger men are so... young," Kasumi added.

"Well, what kind of guy is he?" Nabiki further inquired.

After a second, Soun again laughed, this time a bit more nervous than before. "I don't know."

Nabiki's optimistic attitude quickly faded as she echoed, "You don't know."

"I've never met him," Soun added.

Now even Nabiki fell into shock along with her sisters.

For her part Shampoo listened only vaguely, feeling the whole conversion had little to do with her. She had a rather long night last night, and the earlier downpour had gotten her good and drenched, not to mention changing her into her cursed form. So, she was simply content to get the few minutes to take advantage of one of this form's few perks, being able to nap near anywhere.

Akane, however, was not so content with the situation and made herself heard on the matter. "You've never met him! So, none of us have the foggiest what this guy is like?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Soun answered. "I heard nothing but good things about him from his father."

"And exactly how many times have you heard from his father?" Nabiki asked.

"Well, ummm, a few."

Nabiki was unimpressed with the answer. "What are we talking here, once, twice?"

"Well, twice, but I assure you he is a fine young man."

Nabiki's eye twitched slightly at that, and she leaned back over to her sister. "Maybe you were right, Akane."

As she spoke, the door chime rang, signaling that someone had opened the front door to the residence. As it did a new voice could be heard, one apparently that was very displeased. "Let go you old fool! I told you I don't want any part of this. Now put me down!"

"Sounds like we have visitors," Kasumi said as she got up. Nabiki soon joined her along with Soun.

"Well, it's probably Ranma. Let's see what he's like," Nabiki suggested, although her earlier enthusiasm was all but gone.

Soun, however, remained energetic and rushed for the door. "Saotome, my friend, we've been waiting."

Finally even Akane got up to see their new visitor and walked up next to Kasumi. "I hope that he is older than me," the eldest Tendo daughter said.

'I just hope this is some kind of stupid joke,' Akane thought to herself as they neared the corner. Before they could round it, however, Nabiki and Soun came rushing back. This confused both girls, especially as both Nabiki and Soun looked scared. Their answer came in the form of a Panda carrying a person which came around the corner a second later. Akane backed off a pace, but otherwise held her ground while her sisters hid behind their father. Unsure of what to make of this, Akane subconsciously readied herself for a fight.

"Come on pop! You're scaring them spit-less!" the person being carried yelled at the panda, but it ignored him.

At this point, Shampoo noticed the commotion and rushed over to investigate, standing just behind Akane. Soun also regained his nerve and stepped forward, shielding his daughters, to confront the animal, although still quite shocked by all this.

"So father, this is your friend?" Kasumi asked calmly. Soun shook his head.

"Oh, so, this Panda just decided to drop in, is that it, huh?" Nabiki asked. Again Soun shook his head.

Finally the panda stopped and placed the person it was carrying in front of them in a very careful manner quite uncharacteristic of an animal. Having a slightly better angle to view their newcomer, Akane had a closer look which revealed the person to be a red-haired girl, although apparently her father missed the gender.

Soun took a moment to assess the situation. Seeing the Panda seemed remarkably well behaved, he turned his attention to the human. "You wouldn't be..." Soun began to inquire.

"I'm Ranma Saotome," the girl responded then hung her head. "Sorry about this."

"At last! You're here!" Soun exclaimed and began to hug the young girl.

'I thought he was supposed to be a boy?' Akane thought.

Also unaware of Ranma's true gender, Nabiki took a peek around her father to get a closer look. "Well, he is cute after all," she commented. No sooner had the words left her mouth though than she began to notice the discrepancies of gender.

"I'm so glad you're here," Soun said then finally noticed something odd himself. Perplexed, but without looking down, he gave Ranma a bit of a squeeze then held her out at arms' length.

Now given a clear view, Nabiki's suspicions were revealed to be true which she confirmed by poking Ranma's breast. Not satisfied with a simple poke, she grabbed Ranma's breast with the full of her hand to feel it to be sure.

"Ah, could you stop that," Ranma asked, feeling very awkward with another girl touching her like that. Nabiki, however, ignored her, and looked back at her father with a slight bit of annoyance.

"Ranma's not a boy, he's a girl," Nabiki pointed out.

"A... girl," Soun echoed then fainted.

Akane quickly moved to catch him, while Nabiki finally released Ranma.

"Move him in here," Kasumi directed Akane toward the common room, and Akane dragged her father's unconscious form over.

"Well, daddy has got a lot of explaining to do," Nabiki said as she followed. After a moment and a sigh, Ranma did likewise. The panda followed close behind.

Inside the common room, Kasumi laid out some covers, and with Ranma's help, Akane eased her father down onto them. While in the process of getting back up, Shampoo came up next to Akane, and directly in sight of Ranma whose reaction was instant.

"AHHHHH! CAT! KEEP IT AWAY! KEEP IT AWAY!" Ranma shouted as she jumped straight up and clung to the ceiling.

Everyone looked at this display in puzzlement, particularly Shampoo. Akane looked down at the cat, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary with Shampoo, looked back up at the still frightened Ranma.

"Don't worry Ranma. She won't hurt you," Akane explained, but Ranma remained stuck to the roof, teeth chattering in fear. 'She's afraid of cats? I didn't even know it was possible to be that afraid of a house cat,' Akane thought, but after a moment she sighed and looked back at Shampoo. "**Shampoo, why don't you go up to our room for now while we work this out?**"

Shampoo nodded, cast Ranma one last confused look, and then ran off into the hall and up the stairs. Ranma watched this and slowly recovered. After ensuring the feline was no where in sight, she let herself drop to the floor.

"Afraid of cats?" Akane asked.

"Ah, yeah," Ranma admitted with some embarrassment.

Akane smiled despite herself. "Well don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't hurt you," she said then let out a giggle.

"It's not funny," Ranma said with a sour face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Akane said as she stifled herself. "It's just... never mind. Just, don't worry, she won't hurt you."

"Oh, poor father, he must be so disappointed," Kasumi said as she sat down overlooking her father.

"He's disappointed! Kasumi, I wasn't expecting much, but I was at least expecting to see a guy! Someone really got their wires crossed!" Nabiki countered as she sat down opposite her sister. The words caused Ranma to sigh again.

"Don't pay attention to them," Akane reassured their guest. "They're just surprised, that's all. I'm Akane."

"Ah, hi," Ranma greeted, smiling just slightly just as the father awoke.

"Look everyone, father's coming to," Kasumi said.

Nabiki did not waste a second to lean over into his view to voice her displeasure. "This is all your fault daddy. Don't you know the difference between a boy and a girl?"

"I assumed my friend Genma's _son_ was a boy," Soun offered in response.

Nabiki was unimpressed. Pointing at Ranma, she asked, "Excuse me, does that look like a boy to you, huh daddy?"

Akane frowned at her older sister. "Well it doesn't matter. A guest is a guest," she said with an admonishing tone that got Nabiki to fall silent, although she continued to look unhappy. Akane ignored her and turned to Ranma. "Hey, do you want to go practice?"

"Huh?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"You look like you could use a distraction. Come on, I was just practicing myself anyway," Akane said, and directed Ranma to follow her down the hall. Nodding to herself, Ranma followed, welcoming the change in company.

XXXXX

Moments later the pair was inside the dojo. "You study Kempo, right?" Akane asked as she entered.

"A little..." Ranma replied as she took in the new surroundings.

"Well, we can have a little match then," Akane replied with a smile, and set herself opposite Ranma.

"Huh?" Ranma said, again confused.

"Come on, just for fun," Akane said reassuringly, setting herself into a fighting stance. Ranma, on the other hand, remained standing with her hands behind her back. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," Akane said then readied herself.

Ranma remained motionless, but Akane could sense an air of preparation from the other girl as well, despite her informal stance. Satisfied that the newcomer was ready, Akane started off with a light forward punch to test Ranma out. To her amazement, Ranma reacted with incredible speed, hopping up and just out of reach of the blow. Impressed, Akane tried a sweeping punch, which Ranma tilted off to the side to deftly avoid.

Frowning just slightly, Akane upped the tempo and began a combination attack. Ranma again expertly dodge each blow with the minimal of effort, the last causing her to bend backwards, and then bounce back up like a spring when Akane pulled her arm back. "You're pretty good," Akane said in a pleased tone and then shifted stances. "All right, let's get a little more serious."

For Ranma's part the first exchange had been seriously easy. She wasn't about to say anything, but really, if that was Akane's best, she was way out of Akane's league. However, Akane's new stance was clearly different and unfamiliar to her. It also heightened her danger sense, and Ranma decided not to jump to any quick conclusions and prepared herself.

As she watched, wind began to encompass Akane's hand. The display was startling, and before Ranma could react, Akane let out a punch. Ranma dodged back, easily evading the fist, but before she knew it, found herself blown off her feet and to the ground as Akane winced.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," Akane said as she rushed over and helped Ranma back to her feet. "I got a little too excited. I've been trying to control that better, but it's hard. You okay?"

"Yeah... sure," Ranma replied, still a bit stunned, wondering just what had happened. Feeling her chest, she could swear she just got punched, but she was positive Akane hadn't laid a finger on her. 'What was that?' She wondered as she looked up at Akane.

"We should stop," Akane said with a downcast look.

"No, it's okay," Ranma tried to say but Akane shook her head.

"No, really. I wasn't aiming for that big of a blast. We should stop. Call it a tie," Akane replied, looking concerned. Ranma opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it and simply nodded.

After assuring herself that Ranma was in one piece, Akane turned to leave. "So, why did my dad think you were a boy?"

Ranma looked down at the floor, feeling anger swell inside her. "Long story," she said simply.

Akane nodded, seemingly sympathetic to Ranma's anger. "Oh, well, it's not important anyway. I'm just glad you're a girl."

Ranma looked up sharply, confused. "Huh?"

"Well, I'm just glad you're not a boy. There won't be an engagement this way," Akane explained as she finally left the room.

Ranma hung her head slightly at this, disappointment clear in her expression.

XXXXX

Akane walked up the stairs, stretching out muscle kinks and stopped at a door with a wooden cat on it used as a label, clearly showing the names 'Akane' and 'Shampoo'. The door was open a crack, as was usual given one of its occupants nasty habit of changing into a body with neither the height nor hands to work the knob. Akane pushed the door open and walked inside, rubbing her hands through her hair. Sitting on one of the two beds on either side of the window, Shampoo-cat looked up at Akane in greeting.

"**Happen to catch any good explanation of what's going on?**" Akane asked, but Shampoo just shook her head. "**Oh well. Come on, I'm going to go take a bath,**" Akane said and offered to carry the cat. Accordingly Shampoo nodded and jumped into Akane's arms appreciatively. The pair walked downstairs and down the hall to the bathroom.

As they entered, Akane noticed Ranma's clothes in the hamper, and gave Shampoo a sad look. "**Sorry Shampoo, you're going to have to wait. Ranma's scared of cats.**" Shampoo looked disappointed. "**Well, at least you'll get the bath to yourself,**" Akane joked. Shampoo nodded, giving Akane a look she recognized as a type of cat-ish grin, and jumped down to the floor. "**I'll call you when we're done.**"

Shampoo nodded and headed out into the hall to return to their room. She did not make it far however, as a short few moments later Akane came back out of the bathroom and into the hall, closing the door gently behind her and leaned back against it as if relieved. Shampoo looked back at her in puzzlement especially as Akane, although mostly clothed, seemed to have forgotten the pants to her gi. Akane took in a deep single breath, and much to Shampoo's shock let out a sudden scream and ran off down the hall, heedless of Shampoo's presence.

Still confused, Shampoo remained in the hall, looking around for some explanation for Akane's actions. The answer came as a boy she did not recognize exited the bathroom, shaking his head, and began to walk after Akane. Shampoo dodged off to the side and out of sight, waiting for the boy to pass. After he did, she raced into the bathroom herself and took a quick jump into the hot waters of the furo.

A now human Shampoo broke the surface of the water and rushed back to the hall, grabbing a pink and white training gi of her own as she passed. Tossing on the gi quickly, Shampoo raced into the hall and after the boy, a look on her face that promised trouble was soon to come.

XXXXX

Still screaming, Akane rushed into the common room and picked up the table. She was so excited by what had just occurred that she completely missed that a newcomer wearing glasses, a white gi and matching scarf on his head was sitting at the table with her father. Really, such petty little details were unimportant to her at the moment. She was screaming mad.

"I'll drown him in the bath tub!" she said aloud in her furry as she lifted the table above her head. Kasumi and Nabiki peaked into the room, wondering at the commotion, and both looked at their sister in surprise.

"Akane, what is it? What's the matter? What are you doing with that?" Kasumi asked in a calming voice.

"There's a pervert in the bathroom," Akane yelled out.

"Well gee Akane, why didn't you just clobber him then?" Nabiki asked with a frown.

"Because I got scared. Is that all right?" Akane replied angrily.

"Oh, I do hope Ranma's all right. I thought she was in there taking a bath right now," Kasumi said just as a boy's voice could be heard yelping out. Nabiki and Kasumi turned to look down the hall towards the noise.

"Ow, wait a minute, I can explain-Ow! Just give me a chance-Ow-wait-!" the boy pleaded as crashes and frantic feet could be heard.

"Hiyah!" Shampoo cried out with another attack. "Shampoo no want hear pervert's words! Hiyah!"

Just then, the boy was knocked into view, falling and narrowly dodging one of Shampoo's chui as she attempted a follow up attack. He rolled off to the side as its mate crashed into the floorboards where his skull had been a second earlier. Rolling back to his feet, the boy made a run for the outside, while Shampoo rushed into the room in hot pursuit. Shampoo struck out again, this time hitting the boy in the shoulder, spinning him around. Taking advantage of this, Shampoo kicked him in the abdomen, sending him stumbling backwards.

Akane, still wielding the table, took this as her opportunity, and utilizing all her strength, tossed the piece of furniture directly into the boy. Caught completely by surprise by the table attack, the boy was sent tumbling out into the yard, and into the pond.

Both girls moved to pressure their attack when Soun called them to a stop. "Akane, Shampoo, stop at once. I can explain." Heeding Soun's call both stood down long enough to see a now female Ranma sitting in the pond holding her head in pain.

"Ow, that hurt," Ranma moaned out.

This naturally caused both girls some surprise, until at last Shampoo turned to Soun and asked, "Him cursed like Shampoo?"

Soun nodded sadly. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

The two girls exchanged looks and relaxed their fighting readiness in understanding. "Oh great," Akane muttered.

XXXXX

A short time, and some hot water later, Ranma-kun and the other man sat on one side of the common room opposite the four girls while Soun went through the introductions.

"This is my good friend..." Soun began.

"Genma Saotome," the white scarfed man said in greeting, bowing slightly to the girls. He then turned to Ranma and said, "And this is my son..."

"Ranma," the now male Ranma said, giving Akane a brief glance. Akane returned the look with a scowl, causing the boy to shrink back away from her.

"So I take it you're the panda, Mr. Saotome?" Nabiki asked.

Genma nodded. "Yes. How do you know of the curse?"

In answer, most the eyes in the room moved to Shampoo who herself looked down at the floor self consciously.

Soun explained. "Young Shampoo here has had her own encounter with the Cursed Springs. She is the cat you saw earlier."

Ranma looked over at the amazon in surprise, and just a little fear. Noticing the flinch, Shampoo looked back at him, almost threateningly.

"Well, Soun, you've obviously been doing a little traveling yourself," Genma said with a smile.

Soun smiled back. "Yes, it's been quite a while my friend, and a lot has changed. But, we can talk about that later. To make it absolutely clear, Ranma is a boy, just cursed."

"How unfortunate," Kasumi said sympathetically.

Nabiki just shook her head. "This household gets more interesting everyday."

Akane let out a brief huff.

With no further responses, Soun cleared his throat. "Well, now we can get to business," he began, and directed Ranma's attention to Kasumi. "Ranma, this is my eldest daughter-"

Before he could get any further, Kasumi spoke up. "Father... ah, sorry to interrupt, but seeing as how Ranma is so much younger than me perhaps the others would be more appropriate."

Soun looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded in agreement. "Well, I suppose you're right." Next, his attention turned to Nabiki. "Okay then, this is my middle daughter Nabiki, she's 17."

Nabiki smiled to herself then looked up to address Ranma. "Hello. Say, ahh, Ranma, are you in line for a family fortune or anything?"

"Uhhhh, I... ah..." Ranma stuttered, not sure how to respond to such a question.

Genma interjected on Ranma's behalf. "Perhaps we should stick to a fiancee who's a little younger."

"Oh well, I guess you're right," Nabiki replied with a seemingly disappointed look, but Akane caught her smiling ever so briefly.

Akane turned to look at her father at this point, awaiting the inevitable as the attention turned to her.

"All right then," Soun continued, "this is Akane, she's 16." Akane let out a silent sigh. "And this is my adopted daughter Shampoo, she's also 16."

Shampoo, who once again had been zoning out of the conversion, peaked up at hearing her name. Akane eyed her curiously, noticing her smile briefly. However, the smile did not last as she cast a look at Ranma and it quickly changed to a frown.

"So boy, which will it be?" Genma asked, but Akane spoke up first.

"Wait a sec, there's no way I'm marrying that pervert!" Akane said angrily.

Ranma immediately grew angry at this. "Pervert? Now hold on a minute, you walked in on me."

"If you told us that you were actually a boy in the first place I wouldn't have walked in!" Akane countered.

Ranma hesitated, but quickly replied. "Well, I didn't know how you would react if I told you. I didn't know you knew about the Cursed Springs. Besides, it's not like I wanted to look at you!"

Akane's eye twitched at this. "What do you mean by that?" she asked in a haughty tone.

"It's so obvious. No boy would ever want to peep on a tomboy like you."

Furious, Akane stood up, ready for a fight. "Why you jerk!" Ranma, seeing this, rose to meet Akane. Shampoo remained seated but grew tense, ready to act.

However, before a fight could break out, the two fathers called their children down. After a moment, both relaxed, but continued to give the other mean looks. Once Akane was seated again, Shampoo also relaxed. Ranma, on the other hand, turned on his father. "I don't believe you, old man. You expect me to marry one of these two?"

Once again the comment was taken for an insult, this time by both Akane and Shampoo. Both girls immediately rose up behind the boy.

"No worry, Shampoo Akane no like you! You pervert!" Shampoo said angrily causing the boy to spin on her.

"Stop calling me a pervert you dirty old alley-cat!"

Shampoo looked shocked at the insult, mouthing it silently then grew incredibly angry. Chui at the ready, she took a swing at Ranma. This time the boy was more aware of the danger, and managed to hop clear of the attack, just as Akane moved to restrain the amazon.

"Akane, let Shampoo go! KILL RANMA!" Shampoo demanded as she glared at the boy.

"Calm down, please Shampoo!" Akane asked, casting Ranma a quick dirty look. After a moment though, Shampoo did indeed calm, and sat down in a huff. Satisfied with this, Akane turned back to Ranma, glared at him, and sat down next to Shampoo.

Ranma in the meantime had realized he had perhaps pushed a little too far, so he switched topics. "Well I'm not going through with this. I'm going back to China."

Shampoo let out a smug snort at this suggestion. "You no find cure there. Shampoo search for many year, no find."

Ranma looked back at her, and thought for a moment, realizing that she was obviously telling the truth. This disheartened him, and caused him to look at his father furiously. "This is all your fault old man. If you hadn't taken me to that stupid training ground..."

In response to this, Genma got up and grabbed his son by the shirt. "Ranma, if you insist on whining like a girl..." he began, and proceeded to toss Ranma into the pond. "You might as well look like one too. Weren't you ready to sacrifice your life for the art?"

The now female Ranma grabbed a bucket next to the pond, dragged it through the water, and rushed her father. "My life, yes. My MANHOOD is another story," she yelled out as she doused her father with the water, changing him into a panda. The panda growled, and took a swing at Ranma which she dodged. The next swing she grabbed, along with her father's other front paw and the two began to test their strength against each other in a stand off. "You and your dumb ideas. Training ground of cursed springs, that sounds good. Let's go there," Ranma said mockingly.

The confrontation came to a sudden end, however, as a gust of wind came between them. Before either knew what was happening, a huge wall of air built up between them and forced them apart.

Ranma, recognizing the technique as something similar to what Akane had employed earlier, turned to see if she had done it. Instead she saw a woman standing just to the side of the girls, arm stretched forward. She was about Soun's age, maybe a bit younger, and despite her slender build was clearly a well practiced martial artist if Ranma was a good judge of such things. Brown, simple hair flowed down her back clear to her knees. She wore a modest outfit that Ranma recognized as being of Chinese design, although this one was particular in that it was adorned with a multitude of ribbons which flowed with the wind as the remnants of the technique washed over her.

"Soun, what is going on here?" the woman asked.

"Ah, Soon Li, ah... this is my friend Genma and his son Ranma," Soun explained, getting up to join her.

Soon Li turned to examine the pair. Genma-panda raised a sign saying 'hello' while Ranma stood perplexed for a long moment before bowing with an embarrassed blush. Nodding slightly in response, she turned back to Soun. "Curse victims, I hope?" she asked with a slightly joking smile.

"Yes Soon Li, they just arrived a few hours ago," Kasumi explained further, causing the woman to nod in understanding.

"Ah then, it is good to meet you both," Soon Li greeted with a wide smile.

"Yes, Saotome, Ranma, this is my wife, Soon Li." Soun introduced.

Genma spun his sign around, which now said, 'Nice to meet you.'

Introductions complete, Soun directed Soon Li to sit next to him by the table. "As I was explaining to the girls, Saotome and I have had a long standing agreement to join our two families through marriage."

"I see," Soon Li said with a nod.

"Now, the only thing that is left is for Ranma to make a choice," Soun said.

Genma added in a new sign read that read, 'Yes Ranma, pick a girl.'

"I have no interest in marrying either of them, okay?" Ranma replied angrily

Soon Li took this in curiously and spoke up. "May I suggest something?"

"Of course," Soun replied.

"Okay, let me get this straight. Ranma is to be engaged to one of your daughters?"

"Yes and Akane and Shampoo are the most suitable," Soun answered.

Nodding, Soon Li continued, "Well then, there's no real need to make the decision now. Ranma, why don't you get to know them first and then make your decision? Is that acceptable?"

"I guess, but I don't like it," Ranma replied, but took the slight reprieve for now.

"Good," Soon Li said with a smile. "Then it is settled. I'll go get you two some hot water."

XXXXX

Sometime later, Akane and Shampoo were together having their much delayed bath. While Shampoo lay relaxing at one end of the furo, eyes closed and soaking in the warm waters, Akane was much angrier, pouting as she leaned over the furo's edge.

"**Stupid jerk, I can't believe him! There's no way I'm marrying that pervert!**" Akane muttered aloud.

"**I'll agree that he's stupid, and a jerk, but he did have a point Akane. You did walk in on him,**" Shampoo replied, surprising Akane.

"**Are you defending him?**" Akane asked, looking back at her companion.

"**No, just pointing out the facts.**"

Akane considered this for a moment. "**Okay, maybe he's not a pervert but that doesn't mean I'm going to go along with this stupid engagement.**"

"**Why fight it? You know one of us is going to get roped into it whether we like it or not.**"

"**Great, ruin my day,**" Akane replied ruefully then gained a mischievous grin and flicked some water at Shampoo. "**You think you liked him or something.**"

At last, Shampoo opened her eyes and returned the flick of water back at Akane. "**No way. Why in the world would you think that?**"

"**Don't deny it. I caught you smiling when dad included you.**"

Shampoo was taken aback by this. "**I just thought I wouldn't be included. This is a matter of continuing the family after all. I thought Soun would only include you three. It had nothing to do with Ranma,**" she explained.

"**You should know better than that. Dad thinks of you as a daughter just as much as any of us,**" Akane pointed out then returned to leaning over the side. "**I just wish he would have at least asked us about this. I never expected to be married off to some guy I've never met before.**"

"**Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Ranma seems like he doesn't like it either. The only reason he agreed to make the choice was as a way of stalling to figure a way out of it.**"

"**You really think so?**" Akane asked with a backwards glance.

Shampoo nodded. "**Sure, I doubt this engagement is really going to happen.**"

"**Maybe you're right,**" Akane responded, feeling slightly more upbeat.

Just then, the door to the bath slid open to reveal a naked Ranma-kun, looking on in shock. The two girls looked back at him in an equal measure of shock. A long second passed before Ranma shook himself out of his stupor and quickly slid the door shut, saying, "Sorry, sorry!"

The girls remained quiet for a moment, but finally Akane turned back to Shampoo and asked, "**Do you still think he's not a pervert?**"

"**Pervert, no,**" Shampoo began to reply. "**Really stupid, yes.**" After a second she added. "**He's well built though.**"

Akane frowned back at her adoptive sister. After only a few seconds, Shampoo couldn't hold her composure and broke into a smile. Seeing this, Akane's frown was likewise quickly replaced with a smile and she broke into laughter. Shampoo soon joined her.

XXXXX

Out in the hall, Ranma heard the two girls laughing, and blushed self consciously. 'Stupid… this is not going to work.'

%End Chapter 1

That's chapter 1 done. Chapter 2 is a monster and I'm considering breaking it into smaller chunks, but in any case it will be a while before I get it done.

As well, being my first story in the Ranma 1/2 world I inevitably fell into the good old "recite the first episode" cliché that now overwhelms many a fanfic. I hope some of the side content makes up for this.

From the beginning of the edit cycle on MUOF, part 1 largely remained unchanged, along with the bulk of part 2. One thing that I did change, however, was the appearance of Soon Li's and Soun's daughter, Tiri. Unfortunately, young miss Tiri was originally only used to explain to Ranma some of the finer points of mandarin which he was to use to gain some insight into Shampoo and Akane. However, later revision removed that entirely, leaving her character nothing to do. So, without that the young girl never really got used extensively enough to justify her presence in my mind, so I decided to remove her from the story and bring her in later when I had something to do with her. Still working on that. Sadly, it's actually one of the few revisions I actually regret now as I would actually like to have Tiri in for some of the current goings on in the story, but too late now. Oh well.


	3. Chapter 2

%Chapter 2

The morning light peaked over the rooftops of Nerima just in time to illuminate the preparations of two Tendo girls readying for the morning training. Akane and Shampoo engaged in a number of stretches in relative silence as they waited for their instructor.

"Good morning. Sleep well?" Soon Li asked as she stepped out into the yard to join them.

"Decently," Akane replied as she and Shampoo stood up straight to address their teacher. "Soon Li-"

Soon Li raised a hand to silence Akane. "I know what you're going to say, but I'm staying largely out of this. This whole arrangement was made quite a while ago." Akane hung her head in defeat, but Soon Li simply smiled. "Now now Akane, you should know that this sort of thing isn't necessarily bad. Just give it some time."

"Yeah… sure," Akane replied without much optimism.

"Anyway, you two ready?"

"Yes," both girls said in unison.

"Alright. Ready," Soon Li began, and both girls took positions facing the door, shoulder to shoulder. "Set… Go!" With the final word, Shampoo and Akane bolted out the door and down the street, each pushing the limits of their speed. Ranma came into view a moment later, coming over to see what was happening.

"Where're they off to?" Ranma asked.

"It's a race to see who gets to work at the Nekohanten tonight," Soon Li answered.

"Loser has to work-?"

"No, the winner," Soon Li corrected and gained a puzzled look from Ranma. However, before he could get some clarification Soon Li headed inside.

'What kind of motivation is that?' Ranma wondered as he headed inside himself.

XXXXX

A short time later, Nabiki, fresh from bed and brushing her teeth, arrived in the common room. Soun was at the table, reading the morning newspaper, while Kasumi read a book next to him. Soon Li, meanwhile, was preparing the table for breakfast. All this was normal, so it didn't catch Nabiki's attention. Instead, the sparing match occurring out in the yard between Ranma and his father was of more interest.

"Great, more early wakers," Nabiki commented ruefully.

Soun nodded mutely just as the sound of feet and heavy breathing could be heard. Nabiki turned to look down the hall in a small bit of curiosity. As she did, Akane scrambled around the corner, bouncing off the wall to redirect her motion. Not far behind, Shampoo too bolted into view, trying her best to close the gap. Nabiki paid them little heed and headed back to her business just as Akane rushed into the common room and reached Soon Li. Shampoo arrived a second later, but too late as Akane tagged Soon Li with a light tap to the shoulder. In response, Shampoo came to a disappointed stop.

"Well, you win Akane," Soon Li said with a nod.

"Thanks," Akane replied while grabbing her breath.

"Shampoo win tomorrow," Shampoo said through heavy breaths.

"We'll see," Akane said to her adoptive sister with a slight smile as the two finally caught their breath.

As the pair recovered, they too turned their attention out to the yard and the sparring match occurring there. At that moment, Ranma and Genma were engaged in a particularly impressive set of aerial exchanges just over the pond.

Akane took in one large breath to fully clear her lungs before standing up straight and commenting, "Well, I guess they're not too bad."

"We better," Shampoo said confidently.

"Now Shampoo, you know what I told you," Soon Li cautioned from the side.

Shampoo hung her head and nodded. "Yes Soon Li. No underestimate others."

"Good," Soon Li replied with a nod before leaving for the kitchen. A moment later, as the girls sat down around the table, she returned with several dishes of food and called out, "Mr. Saotome, Ranma, breakfast is ready."

Pausing on one side of the pond, Genma nodded. "Well boy, let's break for breakfast."

Ranma returned the nod, and the pair jumped into one final exchange. Unlike the previous exchanges, Ranma took the worst of it, and found himself unexpectedly falling directly for the pond. However, before he could hit, much like the night before a blast of wind formed below him and directed him clear to the solid ground.

Relaxing her outstretched arm, Soon Li sighed. "Ranma, Mr. Saotome, please be more careful. Hot water is expensive. Now come eat your meals."

'How does she do that?' Ranma marveled for a moment before doing as instructed.

XXXXX

A short time later, Ranma was walking down the hall with his father, venting his frustrations. "I still don't believe this!" Ranma exclaimed in annoyance.

"Well, you still get to choose," his father replied.

"Between those two-! Are you nuts? I have absolutely no intention of marrying either of them."

Genma paused and turned to address Ranma. "Now look here boy, you have an obligation."

"You and your stupid promises," Ranma said, looking away with a frown.

Genma nodded. "Then it's settled."

"I'm not going along with this willingly you know," Ranma quickly shot back.

"Yes, well... There is also the matter of school," Genma replied, tactically changing subjects. The ruse worked as Ranma completely forgot about the engagement and turned on his father in shock.

"School! Why do I have to go to school?"

"Well, we are going to be staying a while."

"What about what I think? Don't I get to have some say in this? Who died and made you boss?" he said, and seeing his father was paying little heed to him, took the opportunity to kick him out of the hall and into the nearby pond. "So there," he said, but felt little better.

At that moment, Shampoo came down the hall dressed in a school uniform and gave him a scowl. "Why you complain? Shampoo go school. Shampoo no like," she said.

Nabiki, likewise dressed, was next to appear. "Yeah Ranma, live with it," she said as she passed by, waving goodbye absently.

A moment later Akane appeared, also ready for school and frowned at Ranma as she came up next to Shampoo. "I guess you're coming with us. Come on," she directed as she and Shampoo picked up a pair of bags in the hall and headed out.

"Well maybe I'm not ready to go yet," Ranma said in a weak show of defiance, but as his now panda shaped father appeared and shoved a school bag into Ranma's hands, what little fight he had in him left. "Okay, okay, fine, I'll go," he said, muttering to himself as he rushed to catch up.

XXXXX

Along the canal, Shampoo and Akane walked along the walkway. Ranma was close behind, but he chose to walk along the fence which seemed to annoy the two girls, particularly Shampoo, although they had said nothing.

After a few minutes, Akane was the first to speak. "When we get there you're on your own. You don't know me."

"Shampoo either," Shampoo quickly added.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ranma replied tiredly.

"And don't you dare mention this engagement thing!" Akane threatened.

"You think I'd tell anyone that I'm going to be engaged to a violent tomboy or a dirty old alley-cat," he said back without thinking.

The response was predictably bad as both girls growled.

"You stop calling names!" Shampoo commanded, but Ranma looked unimpressed.

"And what are you going to do about it?" he asked, and before he even had time to realize it, he found himself airborne with several new bruises. Once more Ranma had to pause in wonder as Shampoo had jumped up to the fence, drawn her chui, and knocked him flying, all before he was even aware of it. In hindsight, he should have expected as much as the night before her attacks had been like a hailstorm that he just could not keep up with even when he was giving her his fullest attention.

At the last instant, Ranma realized that he was now about to hit the water and let out a yelp. Shampoo, apparently satisfied with the results, dropped back to the walkway and waited with Akane as Ranma swam back to shore and made her way back up.

"Why you-" Ranma started to say, but was quickly cut off as Akane gave her a sharp yet light hit to the head. "Ow! She started it."

"Don't expect to get any sympathy out of me," Akane replied and then, in a mocking tone said, "I'm just a violent tomboy, remember?" Ranma shrank back slightly then huffed and turned away. "You keep up with the name calling and you'll be dealing with both of us, got that?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Akane frowned, but relented and opened up her school bag. After a few seconds she dug out a thermos and poured the contents over Ranma, returning her to male form. "Now come on. And stop fooling around. We only carry a couple of those. Don't want to start your first day at school as a girl, do you?"

"Of course not," Ranma quickly replied, and followed as the two girls continued on their way, exchanging a brief sneer with Shampoo when she looked back.

The rest of the journey went on in silence. However, with Furinkan High just in sight down the road, the girls stopped. Ranma too stopped and looked at the pair.

"Good luck Shampoo. I'll see you in class. Come on Ranma," Akane said, grabbed up Shampoo's and her own school bags and took Ranma by the arm to lead him ahead.

Uncertain what to make of this, Ranma let himself be led, but looked back to see Shampoo stretching herself in preparation for battle. "What's going on?" he asked.

"You'll see," Akane replied and motioned in front of them.

Turning his attention from Shampoo, Ranma looked ahead at the school to see the courtyard full of various athletes from all manner of sport.

"It's Shampoo's turn today, guys," Akane commented as she and Ranma entered the school yard. With that direction, the boys rushed out. Ranma turned to watch as they ran directly at Shampoo. With a confident smile she rushed forward to meet them, and soon unconscious bodies were hitting the ground on mass.

"Woo, what's this all about?" Ranma asked as they made their way through the crowd still pouring out to meet Shampoo in battle.

"I'll tell you later, it getting late, let's get inside," Akane said.

"Shouldn't we help?" Ranma asked but Akane shook her head.

"No, she'll be fine, now come on."

Ranma looked back in uncertainty. Although he could no longer see Shampoo through the crowd of boys, judging from the shear chaos he was seeing where she was fighting, the boys were taking the worst of it. Unexpectedly, Akane pulled up short, causing Ranma to look back and see the main door blocked by a older boy in Kendo garbs wielding a bokken.

"You know the deal Kuno, out of the way," Akane demanded.

"Of course Akane Tendo, I had no intention of delaying your entrance. I was however interested in your companion," the boy replied and raised his bokken at Ranma. "Identify yourself and state your business with the Akane!"

Ranma was taken aback for a second at the challenge, and started to reply. "Well, I'm-"

"He's no one important Kuno, now can I get by?" Akane said suddenly.

Kuno considered for a second before nodding and stepping aside. "Forgive me. Enter with my consent."

Akane once more pulled Ranma along past Kuno, before pausing to take in the fight. Ranma looked back and had to blink in surprise as in the short few seconds they had been talking with Kuno, Shampoo had thinned the crowd down to a mere handful. Akane did not delay long, and continued onto class.

The fight now out of view, Ranma took the opportunity to address Akane. "Akane, I'm perfectly capable of handling myself," he said in annoyance.

"You don't know Kuno, he'd probably challenge you and we'd be late. If you want to be macho, do it during lunch," Akane responded.

Ranma frowned, but decided to drop the matter for now. After climbing a few staircases and going down the hall, the pair arrived at their class and entered. Most the students were within, gathered by the windows. Akane released Ranma and headed over herself and Ranma quickly joined her.

Down below in the court yard, only the fallen bodies of the boys remained scattered throughout the area. That was cause enough to be impressed, but that Shampoo appeared to be untouched and in top form gave even Ranma pause. 'She beat all those guys, that quick, woah,' he thought to himself.

However, her troubles were not over. Across from her, where they had left him earlier, Kuno stood waiting by the school's main entrance. Shampoo stood holding a single red rose as he spoke.

"Once again your prowess and ingenuity have brought you through the tides of the unworthy. Fate now brings us face to face another time, showing our true destiny is to be together," Kuno said with a smile as he stepped forward.

"Oh, Kuno, no want fight you today. Go away," Shampoo replied tiredly.

"Ah, though she be little, she be fierce. Shall our match begin?" he said, pointing his bokken at Shampoo.

Ranma frowned in a small measure of disgust. 'Who is this loser?' he asked himself.

Below, Shampoo sighed, but with determination crushed the rose and tossed it aside. "If insist."

The two set themselves opposite each other. The standoff lasted only a second before Kuno attacked, slashing vertically with his bokken. Shampoo easily dodged to the side, and rolled forward and swept Kuno's legs out from under him. The advantage was momentary as Kuno quickly rolled off to the side and rose back to his feet.

"You are truly a great warrioress, Shampoo," Kuno praised as he pushed back onto the attack.

Dodging by his attacks, Shampoo looked disgusted. "Shampoo no want hear Kuno's pretty words. Shampoo no like you!"

"Ah, thy timidness is truly touching," Kuno replied, unshaken by Shampoo's rejection.

Up above, Ranma felt almost ill. "Oh, give me a break! Does this twit always talk like this?" he asked Akane.

"Always," she replied with a sad shake of her head.

Back below, Shampoo and Kuno were circling, looking for an opening in the other's defenses. It was Kuno who struck first, chopping down on Shampoo. However, like his previous attack, he connected with nothing but air. Shampoo, having spun to the side, used his failed attack as her own opening to kick him in the torso. Kuno doubled over and stumbled a few steps away but recovered and once more faced Shampoo.

"A blow well scored my love, however the next shall be mine," Kuno announce and thrust in. Shampoo once more tried to dodge to the side, but Ranma could see her wince as she retreated several steps.

"Hey, she got hit!" Ranma said, but was shocked at seeing Akane's apparent calm.

"Don't worry about it, she can handle him," Akane said dismissively, but Ranma could not be so confident as he refocused on the fight.

Kuno was making good use of his advantage, forcing Shampoo back. One particular low slash seemed to catch Shampoo off balance, and although she managed to hop over it, her landing was awkward and she stumbled and fell. She recovered, flipping backwards to her feet, but found her back to the school wall, with a smiling Kuno blocking her only avenue of escape.

"Now you'll be mine," Kuno announced as he drew back his wooden blade then began a incredibly quick series of thrusts.

As Ranma continued watching from above, he could see that Shampoo was trapped. Try as she might, Kuno appeared to be getting blows through. A quick glance to the side showed him that Akane seemed uninterested in the whole affair which only puzzled him. 'What's with her all of a sudden? Before she and Shampoo would jump up in an instant to help the other. Now she's just standing here and isn't even worried,' he thought, but decided he wasn't about to let this continue.

With a leap he was out the window and descended on Kuno. The instant he landed he grabbed Kuno by the shoulder and hauled him back, forcing the Kendoist to face him. The expression on Kuno's face made clear this was not going to end well.

Back in the classroom, Akane had watched the whole thing before hiding her face in her hand. "That idiot," she muttered.

"You again! Who are you, commoner, that you interfere with the great Tatewaki Kuno? Speak!" Kuno demanded as he turned his weapon on Ranma.

There was such outrage in Kuno's tone that it Ranma was startled for a moment. "Ah... ah, I'm ah... Ranma Saotome."

"Ranma Saotome eh. I do not know you. What interest do you have in Shampoo?"

"Nothing, I was just helping her out, that's all," Ranma said, regaining his lost composure.

"Is that so? You also seem familiar with Akane. Have you some business with the Tendos?" Kuno asked in suspicion.

"Me? No, I'm just staying at their house," Ranma answered, but Kuno's eyes when wide in shock

"What? Staying with the Tendos, under the same roof as Akane and Shampoo! You fiend!"

"What you talk about? He just guest!" Shampoo said from behind, her annoyance clear in her voice. Ranma spared her a glance and was surprised to see her unharmed. However, before Ranma could truly consider the meaning of that, Kuno readied his weapon.

"Defend thyself," he said, and took a swipe at Ranma. However, he easily evaded the attack, leaping into the air and clear of the blow, and landing behind his new opponent, next to Shampoo.

"You seem rather well for someone who was just getting clobbered," Ranma said as he landed.

"Go away Ranma. Shampoo handle this."

"Hey, I just thought you were in trouble, okay. Sorry for messing up your little love match," Ranma teased, gaining an angry glare from Shampoo.

"Oh, shut up!" she yelled just as Kuno reacquired his target.

"I will not permit you to hound Shampoo, Saotome!" Kuno declared as he rushed forward.

"What? Who's hounding anybody?" Ranma responded, but Kuno didn't listen, instead once more attacking. Despite attacking with more than a dozen swings, Ranma remained untouched, dodging around Kuno and out of reach.

Just slightly behind the two boys, Shampoo heard a crack of thunder from above and looked up with worry before looking back to the two combatants.

"Face me!" Kuno demanded as Ranma once more slipped away from his attacks.

"Now look here you, I have no interest in Shampoo," Ranma said, but Kuno just continued his attacks. "If you want some wacko girl who attacks you for any reason at all, you can have her."

"RANMA!" Shampoo growled out in anger, and prepared to attack him herself, but Kuno intervened between them.

"I will not allow you to speak that way about Shampoo," Kuno said as he pressed his assault. Despite his best efforts, Ranma remained elusive, dodging every strike.

Once more thunder could be heard from above. With a quick look above her Shampoo could see the rain begin to fall. "No time for this!" she growled out, rushing forward. Before either boy knew what was happening, she had jumped up, kicked the unsuspecting Kuno in the back of the head, and snatched Ranma by the arm, dragging him towards the school. Behind them Kuno collapsed unconscious to the ground

"Hurry!" Shampoo shouted, but it was already too late. A downpour of rain hit the courtyard just as the pair reached the door. The affect on both was instant as Ranma changed to his female form and Shampoo disappeared into a lump of her own clothes.

"Oh great!" Ranma muttered as she looked up to the sky then down at herself. An instant later a realization hit her, and she very slowly turned to eye the clothes laying next to her. A few seconds later, the feline Shampoo struggled free of the clothing.

"AHHH!" Ranma screamed in a panic and ran off into the school, trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and Shampoo. Shampoo watched her go with an angry glare.

XXXXX

It was a good many minutes later when Ranma managed to collect herself and found the human Shampoo coming out from one of the girls' washrooms after having apparently changed back and gotten dressed. The instant she saw him, she gave him a furious glare.

"Stupid!" she said as near to a yell as she could muster without actually being such. "Shampoo could do herself! No need you!"

"Look, I'm sorry, all right. I didn't notice the storm," Ranma quickly said in her defense, and backed away as Shampoo stalked up to her. "Wait!" she blurt out as Shampoo came with striking range. Ranma was fully expecting to get hit, but instead Shampoo put her right hand on Ranma's forehead, and moved her left over near a nearby water fountain. Confused, Ranma said nothing, but was stunned when she noticed a small arc of electricity jump from her hand to the metal of the fountain. "What was that?"

Shampoo did not answer, and instead pointed back at the washroom. "Go change, unless want to go class as girl," she ordered. Ranma looked down at herself with a sheepish grin before quickly rushing off to get changed.

XXXXX

Shortly after, the pair were standing outside the classroom, both holding a bucket of water as punishment for being late.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Ranma asked quietly after noticing Shampoo giving him an angry glance.

Shampoo took in a long breath and let go of some of her built up tension. "Okay, but you no get in way next time."

"Fine by me. Like I said, I just thought you were in trouble."

"Shampoo was no in trouble, just try trick Kuno. Try use new technique. You mess Shampoo up."

"Technique?" Ranma asked curiously. "Does this have to do with-"

"Yes," Shampoo interrupted impatiently. "That was static charge you steal from Kuno. He always call himself Blue Thunder, so Shampoo going to make him live up to name."

"You're kidding, right?" Ranma asked, but Shampoo shook her head. "No way."

"It no working anyway," Shampoo conceded. "Take too long build up charge and it no holding properly."

"I didn't feel anything," Ranma thought aloud.

"You no supposed to. That part of technique. Still no work right though," Shampoo said as she frowned in thought.

'She really isn't kidding,' Ranma thought as he looked away for a moment. 'First Akane tossing wind around, and now Shampoo with electricity. What's with these two?' Ranma dismissed that matter for the moment. "What was that about anyway? With all those boys I mean?"

"Boys want date Shampoo. Shampoo no want date boys. We fight. If Shampoo win, no have to date. Understand?"

"Sort of," Ranma replied. "You fight all those boys every day?"

"No, sometimes Akane, sometimes Shampoo. It depend on who win race in morning."

"Now I get it. Since you lost this morning you fight the boys while Akane works at this Nekohanten place."

"Yes," Shampoo confirmed.

"So, then Akane is mixed up in this too?" Ranma asked and Shampoo nodded. "How the heck did that happen?"

"Is all Kuno's fault," Shampoo replied.

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Ranma said with a sympathetic nod.

XXXXX

Elsewhere in Furinkan, Kuno came to class, rubbing away the lingering tingling sensation from his hand from a recent unexpected electrical shock and took a seat. Unlike Shampoo and Ranma's teacher, Kuno's merely sighed and let his lateness pass. 'Ranma Saotome,' Kuno repeated the name in his mind for the hundredth time. 'Just who is this boy that would interfere with my duel?' he asked himself as he brooded. 'Shampoo was clearly distracted this morning. This boy is no doubt the cause.' Looking to his side, he noted Nabiki giving him a slight smile. "Speak woman, what do you know of this Ranma?" Kuno demanded in a whisper.

Nabiki considered for a moment, then finally stretched out her open palm. Growling, Kuno fetched several bills from his pocket and handed them over. After examining them, Nabiki leaned over slightly. "Ranma is our new house guest."

"House guest?" Kuno repeated in anger.

"Well, actually, more accurately he is to be Akane or Shampoo's fiance," Nabiki corrected, unmoved by Kuno's anger.

"Fiance... Fiance!" Kuno blurt out in increasing outrage.

"Yep, our parents decided."

"Ahhhhh, I will not allow it!" Kuno yelled as he stood up. However, his bluster was briefly stolen from him as he was hit with a chalk brush.

"Kuno, stand in the hall!" the teacher ordered.

"Yes sir," Kuno replied, but was already formulating his next move.

XXXXX

Outside their own class, Ranma and Shampoo were busy being bored as they waited for their punishment period to end. Such was brought to a sudden end with the sound of running footsteps rounding the corner. Both looked down the hall just in time to see Kuno raise a bucket of water he was carrying and toss its contents at Ranma. Both fortunately managed to dodge cleanly away and faced Kuno.

"Never Ranma Saotome!" Kuno announced as he tossed the bucket aside and readied his bokken.

"What?" is all Ranma could think to reply.

"I will never allow you to be engaged to either Akane or Shampoo," Kuno shouted.

Both Ranma and Shampoo cringed at having Kuno declare to the whole school their engagement, and tried to quiet him, but the damage was done. Within seconds the classroom exploded as all their classmates came out to ask questions. Akane too was drawn into the excitement and along with the others attempted to deny any hand in the decision.

In the confusion, Kuno was momentarily forgotten, but not for long. Angered further by Ranma's inattention, Kuno charged forward and took a reckless swipe at the boy.

"Look out!" Ranma warned as he knocked both Akane and Shampoo clear of the attack, and used his own bucket as a shield. Kuno's weapon cleanly cut through the metal bucket. As its contents spilled to the floor, Ranma jumped up, and used the remainder to fend off another slash from Kuno, before flipping over him.

"Stand your ground!" Kuno demanded.

"Look Kuno, this is no place for a fight. If you want to fight, follow me," Ranma said, and without waiting for a response rushed off down the hall.

"That I shall," Kuno replied as he gave chase.

Behind them, Shampoo and Akane gave each other a quick look before sighing in unison and heading off after them. Soon after, much of the class followed.

Not far ahead, Ranma spotted an open window. "Here's a good shortcut, " he said with a smile as he hopped through and to the outside. Kuno likewise jumped out.

"What you think you doing?" Shampoo called out.

"Don't worry. I can handle it," Ranma replied.

"But you're over the pool!" Akane pointed out just as they arrived at the windows.

"WHAT!" Ranma exclaimed as he looked down. "AHHHHH! WATER, WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE WATER?" he managed to say just before hitting the surface. Kuno likewise splashed down an instant later.

Back above, the class was now looking over the pool, with many questions and remarks still flying. Shampoo and Akane just looked down at the fading ripples in the water and shook their heads.

"Him plenty stupid. I go get hot water, yes?" Shampoo said.

Akane sighed and nodded. "You better. I'll handle Kuno."

Shampoo headed off down the hall as Akane followed the two boys out the window. However, unlike them, she fell more like a feather than a human being, and guided her descent to land at the poolside. No sooner had she touched down than the now female Ranma exploded out from water with Kuno gripped tightly over her shoulder and in a headlock. With a scream of outrage, she landed nearby and used all her momentum to slam Kuno's head into the poolside cement. This gave even Akane cause to cringe sympathetically as Kuno was knocked out.

"YOU PERVERT!" Ranma yelled as she got to her feet, and started to take in air.

"You finished?" Akane asked as she approached

Ranma look over at Akane briefly, still out of breath, but finally straightened out and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I thought Ranma had black hair," one of their classmate above could be heard saying.

"He did. I think that's someone else," another replied.

"Yeah, it's a girl! Where'd Ranma go?" yet another asked.

Both girls looked up, before Akane spoke. "You better get out of here. I'll handle Kuno while you change back."

"Right. Thanks," Ranma said.

"No problem, just go," Akane directly tiredly. Nodding Ranma headed off for the nearby trees. Seconds later, Shampoo emerged from the school with a kettle and followed. After confirming that everything seemed to be going okay there, Akane returned her attention to Kuno who, despite the brutal nature of the attack, was already regaining consciousness.

Groaning, Kuno rolled over to a sitting position to clear out his head. "Ranma Saotome, you will pay for that. Wait... That cretin, he skipped out on our duel and left a woman to fight in his place," Kuno thought aloud. Hearing this, Akane couldn't help herself and started to laugh. However, that was quickly ended when Kuno rushed to her side. "Akane, tell me it is not true. You are not betrothed to this Ranma, are you?"

Akane sighed. "In a way, but that's none of your business," she answered honestly.

"How dare he court the women I love. Ranma Saotome when I find you, you shall meet swift justice at the end of my blade," Kuno proclaimed, and turned towards the woods. He did not get to make even a single step, though, as Akane barred his path.

"Sorry Kuno, I can't let you by," Akane said.

Kuno smiled. "Is this a challenge Akane Tendo?"

"If it has to be," Akane replied with a frown.

"Very well, if you defeat me I shall allow you to date with me. But be warned, I'm prepared to lose," he responded as he readied his weapon.

"As if I'd ever want a date with you Kuno. Just fight," Akane said. Kuno nodded and obliged, taking a low sweeping slash at Akane. She easily jumped over it and kicked Kuno in the face, forcing him back a pace. However, he quickly shook off the blow and took a downward strike at her. This attack was no more effective as the last, as Akane bent effortlessly with the blow, twisted while grabbing the blade and Kuno's forearm, then used all the combined momentum to toss Kuno into the air. "I don't believe him. You'd think he owned us or something," Akane muttered as she recovered from the attack. However, as she watched his form depart, she soon noticed that he was heading straight in the direction Ranma and Shampoo had taken. "Oh no."

XXXXX

Off in the woods, Shampoo was just about to pour the kettle of hot water over Ranma, who was sitting on the ground expectantly, when Kuno came flying in. Shampoo had just enough time to yelp before being hit, and unfortunately spilling the hot water all over the ground as she and Kuno collapsed together into a heap.

"NO TOUCH SHAMPOO!" Shampoo yelled as she pulled Kuno off of her and slugged him. The force of the blow was enough to send him on another short flight, this time to land face down in Ranma's lap.

"AHHHH! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Ranma exclaimed in shock as she knocked Kuno back with a kick as she flipped backward to her feet. "I don't believe you. First in the pool, then this. What kind of a sicko are you?"

Despite the most recent attacks, Kuno simply rolled over to a sitting position just as Akane ran up. "So we meet again," he said as he looked directly at Ranma.

'Does he know?' Ranma wondered but quickly had her answer.

"Where is that retch Saotome? Do not shield this coward for he is without honor and deserves the fate that awaits him at my hands," Kuno proclaimed. Receiving no immediate reply he continued on, this time calling out in challenge, "That man is not a man! He is not a man-"

A swift jumping kick to the face from Ranma finally knocked Kuno unconscious. "Oh shut up!" Ranma yelled in anger, and promptly turned and started walking away. "I'm going home. You two coming?"

"But it's not even lunch yet!" Akane pointed out, but Ranma didn't seem to care. Sighing, Akane turned to Shampoo. "You better stay, or we'll both catch heck. I'll see you later Shampoo."

Shampoo nodded. "Okay, bye Akane." Shampoo returned to the school as Akane headed off after Ranma.

Left behind, Kuno managed to regain consciousness just in time to see Akane and Ranma depart the school grounds. "She's... formidable," he managed to get out before once more passing into unconsciousness.

"Well since we're leaving, I might as while head over to the Nekohanten. Do you want to come?" Akane asked as they reached the street,

"Alright," Ranma said.

XXXXX

A short time later the pair arrived at the Nekohanten. As they entered they were greeted by Kasumi who was currently acting as waitress. "Hello Akane, Ranma, you're early."

"Akane!" Soon Li called out from the kitchen. She came out and looked at a wall clock. "It's not even noon yet."

"Well, you see..." Akane started to explain nervously, but Ranma stepped forward and bowed in apology.

"It's my fault, miss Li. I... kinda got into a fight, and-" Ranma began to explain.

"Kuno?" Soon Li asked, surprising Ranma. That reaction was enough and Soon Li nodded. "Yes, the girls often end up here early because of him, but this is a new record." Soon Li sighed and pointed to the kitchen. "Alright, get to work young lady, and I hope Shampoo is still there to pick up your school work."

"She is," Akane replied as she rushed into the back to get ready.

"I guess you can head out, Kasumi," Soon Li said, gaining a smiling nod from the eldest Tendo daughter.

"Uh... sorry," Ranma said, regaining Soon Li's attention.

Soon Li shook her head. "No need. The girls complain about him all the time. I should have guessed he'd be trouble. Why don't you take a seat and I'll have Akane bring you something to eat."

Ranma nodded and took a seat at a booth. She had to wait only a few minutes before Akane came out and served her a large bowl of ramen before seeing to the other customers. As Ranma ate, she watched Akane go about her tasks in the restaurant. It quickly became apparent that Akane's routine was anything but. Soon Li pushed Akane to her limits. When she wasn't serving at least 4 bowls of ramen simultaneously, she was being sent on deliveries. Ranma was not too familiar with Nerima, but he was pretty sure many of those deliveries were clear across the district, and Akane managed it in only a few minutes on foot.

'Guess she doesn't get off from training even when she's working,' Ranma thought after witnessing one particularly precarious moment with Akane balancing 10 bowls of ramen at once. Finally, Soon Li called a break, and an exhausted Akane sat down opposite Ranma. "I didn't realize being a waitress was so intense."

"We don't get a whole lot of time to train between working here and school. Soon Li squeezes it in where she can," Akane replied then nodded to the empty Ramen bowl in front of Ranma. "How was it?"

"Oh, good. You made it?"

"Yeah, Shampoo taught me. She's better at it than me though," Akane replied. "She tell you about the boys?"

Ranma frowned with the change in topic, Kuno instantly coming to mind. "Most of it, yeah. I can see why you have this aversion to boys. That Kuno is a real jerk!" Akane could only smile tiredly and nod. "What's his deal anyway?"

Akane shook her head. "Honestly, I don't really know. After we got back from China, and I started attending Furinkan, he started pestering me to duel him. I guess he heard I was a martial artist. I figured he'd go away if I went along with it, so I did," Akane explained and gave a weak laugh. "Did the exact opposite. After I beat him he became ten times as annoying. Started insisting that we go out... ugh... then Shampoo started attending and she got annoyed with him too... I'm sure you can guess what resulted."

"He fell for her too," Ranma concluded with a sad shake of the head. "The guy is pathetic. And all the others? Shampoo said it was Kuno fault."

"Yeah, that's his stupid idea," Akane answered. "I can only guess what brought it on. Maybe he heard about Shampoo's Amazon laws or something. I don't know. Told everyone at school that if they beat us, they could date us. Like we're really going to go along with that." Ranma nodded sympathetically. "You know he's not through with you yet. If nothing else, he's persistent."

"Let him try, I'll trash him."

"You shouldn't underestimate him. He is pretty good when he's serious," Akane cautioned, but Ranma was unmoved.

Ranma straightened up in confidence. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

"Uh huh," Akane replied skeptically which caused Ranma to frown in mild annoyance.

Before Ranma could make an issue of Akane's doubt, a realization hit her. "Wait, Shampoo is an Amazon? As in Chinese Amazon?"

"Yeah," Akane replied then smiled as she noticed Ranma become nervous. "Oh, been there have you?"

"Near the Cursed Springs, right?"

"That's the one," Akane said with a nod. "Take it you crossed one of them?"

"Uh... something like that," Ranma replied evasively.

Akane chuckled and shook her head. "Don't worry, Ranma. Soon Li and Shampoo may be Amazons, but neither is about to hold a grudge about something you did there. So, what happened?"

Ranma hesitated, but taking comfort in Akane's assurance, decided to explain. "Me and pop went there after we got cursed. Stupid idiot got me into a fight with one of them. I beat her, then she gave me this thing called the Kiss of Death."

"You fought her as a girl?" Akane asked, to which she got a nod. "She's still after you?" Akane asked in some concern.

"`Fraid so, that's partly why we came here. I wouldn't worry, there's no way she's going to find me."

Akane frowned. "Don't be so sure. What did you do exactly to get her into a fight?"

"Well, um, we kinda ate the first prize in some stupid contest they were having." Akane blinked then suddenly laughed. "What?" Ranma asked in a little annoyance.

Akane waved off Ranma's comment as she regained her composure. "Reminds me of when Dad meet Soon Li."

"Why, did he do the same thing?"

Akane nodded. "Well, yeah. Not on purpose."

"Why, are you implying we did?" Ranma asked defensively.

"No you jerk. I didn't say that," Akane quickly replied. "Though I do wonder," she added quietly, but Ranma caught it.

"I heard that," Ranma said loudly.

"Quiet down you two," Soon Li ordered from the kitchen, gaining quick apologies from both girls.

After nearly half a minute of silence, Ranma asked, "So, ah... what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, with your father and Soon Li? And how did Shampoo come into this? Is she Soon Li's daughter?" Ranma asked.

Akane shook her head. "No, she's not really Soon Li's daughter, but she does treat her like one now. It's a bit of a long story."

"Go ahead and tell him, Akane," Soon Li unexpectedly said. "I can handle things for a while."

Akane looked back at Soon Li briefly, then nodded. "Well, it started about three months after mom died... actually, that's when we got to the village. The whole thing really started only shortly after she died. Dad was still pretty depressed... honestly we all were. That's when we found out Mom had entered a contest and won a vacation to Hong Kong. Dad decided to take it to get away from things," Akane began and laughed. "It turned into a 10 year vacation. But anyway, after the week was up he didn't really want to go back and we ended up going into China instead. Traveled around there for a while till he heard about those Cursed Springs. He wanted to go see them but Nabiki managed to convince him to take us to the Amazon village first. Good thing too, I don't even want to think what would have happened if we went to those springs first."

Ranma glared down at the table. "Stupid idiot," she muttered before noticing Akane had stopped and was looking at her sympathetically. "Go on," she prompted

"Well, anyway, I think I was about 7 at the time..." Akane began as she reminisced back to that time.

XXXXX

Nearly ten years ago, the Tendo family arrived at the Amazon village, lead by a Chinese guide. It had been a long hike, and although their father was carrying the bulk of their supplies, everyone was good and ready for a rest.

"Ah, sir and ladies, you very lucky. Tomorrow great contest to see who best Amazon fighter in village. You come watch contest?" the guide said as he lead them into the interior of the village. Around them they could see clear signs of preparation for the coming tournament. Many woman were openly sparring, and a large area at the center was being setup with tables, booths and other related material, all surrounding a large log suspended at either end.

"I see," Soun said as he looked about then turned a suspicious eye to Nabiki who only looked away innocently. "I suppose so, we could use a rest," he said at last.

"Thanks daddy," Nabiki beamed.

"I don't want you girls getting into any trouble while we're here," Soun cautioned.

"Yes father," the three girls replied simultaneously.

Soun nodded in approval. "Alright then. Why don't you girls go look around for a while, but don't wonder too far."

"Thanks daddy," Nabiki said once again, retrieved a small camera from her pack and quickly directed her sisters to follow. "Come on."

Nabiki led the other two girls into the crowd while Soun talked with the guide. As they passed through, she paused at each of the sparring matches to take a quick photo before continuing on. After taking almost a dozen photos they reached the match currently being held between Soon Li and another woman. Nabiki took particular note of this fight as Soon Li was dominating the practice matches, but took care to help her opponent to her feet every time she fell.

Nabiki continued to watch in deep thought, then leaned over to Akane. "What do you think? Do you think she's going to win?"

Akane blinked, surprised at being asked, and took a more careful look at Soon Li. "She's pretty good, she's better than all the others we've seen. Probably," Akane answered.

This caused Nabiki to smile deviously. "Now all I need is a sucker," she mumbled as she looked around. "Ah hah," she announce in triumph and walked over to a slightly older girl to talk.

"Nabiki!" Akane said in annoyance, but was ignored. Akane scowled as she watched Nabiki start a conversation with the other girl, but could understanding nothing of what they were saying as they were both speaking in Mandarin. This quickly caused Akane anger to turn to depression. "I wish I knew Chinese."

"Mandarin," Kasumi corrected.

"Whatever!"

Kasumi smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry Akane, you'll learn it soon enough. It took me a while too."

"But I don't know a single word yet," Akane muttered.

"You've been busy with training. I'm sure once you put your mind to it, you'll learn it quickly enough," Kasumi replied.

Akane sighed and turned her attention back to Soon Li. "Sure is lots of girls who know martial arts here," she commented, unable to conceal a little longing in her voice. Seeing this Kasumi smiled and continued to watch as Soon Li sparred. They were soon joined by another young observer. Akane looked at the newcomer briefly, wondering at the young girl's purple-blue hair.

XXXXX

"I didn't know it at the time, but that was the first time I met Shampoo. Although, we didn't really get to know each other till later," Akane of the present explained, looking slightly saddened at the memory.

Seeing this, Ranma decided to change topic slightly. "So, that must have been the same tournament I saw."

Akane reset her attention on Ranma. "Probably. It's held basically every year. There is a tournament for the children too, but I very much doubt you could mistake the two."

Ranma nodded in understanding. "So, then what happened?"

"Well..." Akane said as she continued on.

XXXXX

After a few more bouts, Soon Li finally called the practice to an end, and helped her partner to her feet one last time. The two exchanged a few quick friendly words before the other woman left, motioning as she did so to the girls watching. Akane shied away as Soon Li gave them a smile and approached. Soon Li first turned to Kasumi and the two exchanged greetings in Mandarin before entering a short conversation. Her language skills as they were, Akane could only recognize the occasional mention of her and Nabiki's names. This only served to depress Akane about the deficiency.

After finishing with Kasumi, Soon Li turned to Shampoo, while Kasumi looked around for Nabiki. Akane watched this conversation, Shampoo apparently showing great pride at speaking with the older Amazon. Akane was just about to turn back and speak with Kasumi herself when Soon Li unexpectedly turned to Akane.

"Hello," Soon Li said.

Akane blinked in surprise. "You speak Japanese?"

"Yes I do. Your sister told me that you didn't know Mandarin," Soon Li explained. At hearing this, Akane smiled at her sister who returned the expression before heading off to be with Nabiki. "So, Akane, your sister tells me you are something of a martial artist," Soon Li continued.

Akane straightened herself up and beamed. "Yes, Dad's taught me alot."

"Your dad's a fairly good martial artist?" she asked and Akane quickly nodded.

"Good? He's the best, no one could beat him. Well, you're very good too, but Dad's better," she replied plainly. As she did so, she noticed Shampoo glare at her before turning and leaving angrily.

Soon Li smiled. "Really? Well maybe I'll meet him someday." The words were no sooner out of her mouth than Soun called out to his daughters and approached. Akane turned back to Soon Li to see her examining her father intently. "Ah, hello. You must be her father, yes? She speaks very highly of you," Soon Li greeted after a moment.

Akane looked back at her father to see he too paused to examine Soon Li before speaking. "Ah, yes. It is quiet nice to meet you miss, ah..."

"Soon Li. It's my pleasure," Soon Li replied, exchanging smiles with him. This did not go unnoticed by Nabiki or Kasumi as they too came over.

Soun finally broke the looks they were sharing. "Well, yes, ah... we'd best be going. See you tomorrow maybe," he said and motioned for his daughters to follow him.

"Maybe. Farewell," Soon Li said as she watched him leave. All three girls likewise noticed that their father's attention seemed to linger with her for several moments.

XXXXX

The rest of the day had gone fairly uneventfully for Akane. Nabiki had continued her survey of the village, while the rest simple took the time to rest and take in some of the local sights. That evening they setup a camp just outside the village proper along with their guide. It was late that night, as everyone slept, that Nabiki awoke her two sisters and together they silently sneaked out of the tent to speak.

"What is it Nabiki?" Akane asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes.

"We got to talk about dad," Nabiki replied.

"You mean about that woman we meet today?" Kasumi asked, and Nabiki nodded.

"Yeah, did you see the way dad was looking at her. I haven't seen him like that since mom died," Nabiki observed.

Kasumi nodded as well. "Yes, I noticed. Do you really think he's interested in her?"

"Got to be. We can't let this chance go away," Nabiki said with a devious smile.

Akane looked at Nabiki with a suspicious frown. "What do you mean?"

"Dad will mess it up. He'll be courteous to a flaw and never ask her out or anything. We've got to do something," Nabiki explained.

Akane blinked in surprise. "You mean, you want Dad and her...? You really sure about that?"

"I think Akane may be right. We know so little about her," Kasumi added but Nabiki waved off their concerns.

"I asked all around about her. She could be perfect for Dad," Nabiki replied.

"I thought you were trying to trick them," Akane said in suspicion to which Nabiki smiled weakly.

"Well... yeah, but no one took me up on it, but I did get to know alot about her," Nabiki admitted.

The three fell silent for a moment as Kasumi and Akane considered. Finally, Kasumi walked quickly back to the tent and came back holding a book. "Actually, I was reading this book, it's about Amazon laws, and it says that if a man beats a woman in battle she has to marry him," she said, surprising Akane.

"Really? Can I see that?" Nabiki asked enthusiastically and Kasumi obligingly handed over the book. Nabiki quickly read through it, and paused in thought. "Yes, this is perfect. Now how to get dad and her into a fight..."

"Are you sure we should do this?" Akane asked in concern.

"Of course we should. Dad's miserable, he doesn't show it but he is," Nabiki replied as she continued to plot.

"But..." Akane said but never finished the thought as Kasumi touched her by the shoulder, shifting her attention.

"I think Nabiki's right. He misses mother very much but he needs to move on. You must have noticed it by now. He has even been avoiding returning home."

"Well... yeah," Akane admitted.

"She does seem very nice. I'm sure she'll get along with father wonderfully," Kasumi said, giving Akane pause.

Akane crossed her arms as she thought. She had to admit, Soon Li had made a good impression on her, but the thought of her taking their mother's place wasn't very palatable. However, at the same time, Kasumi was right. Their mother was gone, and they had to move on. After nearly a minute of thought, Akane finally nodded. "Alright then, if it's for dad. So what do we do?"

"I'm thinking about that, give me a sec," Nabiki replied as she continued to ponder, but finally smiled. "I know... That's perfect. I got the perfect plan..."

XXXXX

The next day what seemed like the entire female population of the village was in attendance at the tournament. Akane was beginning to regret her brief sleep interruption as the whole event had started at the break of dawn. Still, excitement was seeing her through for the moment, and the chance to witness so many women demonstrating their martial arts skill was completely engrossing. However, as much as Akane was impressed by the others, Soon Li was particularly standing out, if nothing else for the simple matter that most her fights ended so quickly. The old phrase blink and you'll miss it seemed very apt in this case as often the moment the match began, Soon Li's opponent was sent flying through the air and off the log, a sign of defeat. Now nearing the end of the tournament, Akane was becoming somewhat concerned for Nabiki's plan. She still had confidence in her father, but seeing Soon Li so easily defeat so many opponents was worrisome.

The last match was against a much younger girl. She was in her late teens and wielded a staff. She too was a very able fighter, in Akane's estimation, but facing off with Soon Li even she looked to have little confidence in her chances. As the two women approached the log, Akane noticed Nabiki move closer to her father.

"Hey dad, you look hungry," Nabiki said.

Soun nodded. The early start to the day had caught them off guard and left no time for such things as food. Such had been part of Nabiki's plan, although Soun knew nothing of that. "Ah, yes, a bit of food would be nice right about now. I'm sure we can get something afterward though."

"Well, I know where you could get some," Nabiki replied.

"Really Nabiki, where?" Soun asked curiously, and in response Nabiki pointed out the large table of food that had just finished being prepared.

"Right there daddy. It's a buffet," Nabiki said. "It's first come first serve though so better hurry before everyone else goes," she added.

A loud grumble came from Soun's stomach as it was reminded of food. Soun cleared his throat and smiled at his daughter. "Ah Nabiki, you've made your father proud," he said, and giving Nabiki a light pat of appreciation on the shoulder, he headed over to the table to eat, not noticing the devious smile on Nabiki's face, nor taking much heed of the sign written in Chinese sitting in front of the table.

"Oh daddy, if only you could read Chinese," she said quietly, causing both of her sisters to give a quick look as their father began eating from the table.

With all the others focused on the last match, they were the only ones to notice. Such would not last long, as Soon Li once more demonstrated considerable ease in defeating her opponent. To her credit, unlike the others, this young woman managed to stay in the match nearly half a minute by taking a completely defensive and evasive approach to the fight. The end result was the same though. A loud set of cheers erupted from the crowd as the final victory was achieved and Soon Li motioned appreciatively to them before finally noticing Soun at the table. As she did so she was briefly shocked, gaining everyone else's attention, who all then turned to see the same thing. Besides a few gasps, the entire crowd fell into shocked silence and stared at Soun. Soun merely looked up from his meal, confused.

Akane watched Soon Li intently. She could see her briefly smile but quickly cover it before jumping down and putting on an angry look. "You sir, what do you think you are doing?" Soon Li demanded in an as outraged a tone as she could manage.

Soun started at the sudden challenge, and replied meekly, "Ah, eating."

"Eating? This is the first prize," Soon Li said.

Soun looked around in shock then quickly stood up and bowed apologetically. "Oh, ah, well I'm dearly sorry," he said honestly.

Soon Li paused for just an instant in consideration before saying, "I demand satisfaction sir. Defend yourself!"

"What?" Soun managed to squeak out just before Soon Li attacked. The attack was slow, however, giving him just enough time to stumble backwards and out of its range. She did not leave it at that, though. Soun had just set up his defense when she pressed on. Her attacks were far less serious than those she had used during the tournament, but despite this the speed of them was so great that they easily defeated Soun's guard. Blow after blow landed and forced him back. He was desperately looking for some means to escape, but Soon Li was applying such pressure to him that he did not even have the time to talk. He could concentrate on nothing more then defense.

The girls watched this, cringing sympathetically with each blow. Kasumi shielded her eyes as it continued on. "Father is not doing too well," she commented as she did so.

"Nope, it would help if he would actually fight back," Nabiki replied in irritation.

"Come on daddy! You can beat her!" Akane cheered out, but only a second later all three girls cringed as a rather heavy blow was landed, sending Soun flying through the air to crash into a table of wares setup in front of one of the local shops. Soun let out a very audible groan of pain as he lay stunned among the debris.

Fortunately for him, Soon Li temporarily disengaged and waited as he recovered. Badly dazed, Soun was about ready to pass out when Nabiki decided to run over. "Kasumi, is that you?" Soun asked as Nabiki reached him.

"Ah, no daddy, it's Nabiki," she replied in some concern as she helped him to a sitting position.

"What's happening?" he asked as he held his throbbing head.

Nabiki thought for a moment, then pointed at Soon Li. "You see that person daddy. That guy challenged you. You got to beat him."

Soun finally got himself back to his feet and looked over at Soon Li. In his daze, it took him several moments to focus, but even then he apparently was still fooled by Nabiki. "Well then, this man will regret the day he challenged Soun Tendo," Soun declared and marched forward with determination despite his slight wobble.

Nabiki rejoined her sisters. "That should improve things," she said with confidence, but quickly had such confidence destroyed as another crash could be heard, causing all three to once more cringe. "Well, at least he's trying now," she said with a weak smile. "I thought you said Dad could beat her, Akane?" Nabiki suddenly accused.

"Well, I thought he could," Akane replied in worry.

The battle continued on, although it had little improved for Soun. Despite now going on the offensive finally, Soon Li was still controlling the fight, although even Akane could tell that she had eased up some. Soun had been forced back, and was now inside another of the local shops with most the village and his daughters watching from outside. After giving him a particularly telling kick to the chest and sending him crashing into the wall, Soon Li paused, betraying some concern at her much battered opponent.

Soun, however, was aware of none of this. He was still in quite the haze, and somehow was stubbornly retaining his hold on consciousness. "Prepare yourself, sir. I shall defeat you!" he proclaimed as he dragged himself back to his feet. In a sudden motion he lashed out with a wild, barely controlled swing. It was a feeble effort by any measure, but to everyone's collective shock, unlike all his previous attacks, this one connected. Soon Li, still showing the man in front of her some concern, failed to acknowledge the danger of the attack, and only reflex allowed her to shield her face with her shoulder. Soun fell over, the momentum of his own attack too much for him to handle at this point, while Soon Li grabbed her struck shoulder and winced slightly.

"He hit me," she mumbled, stalling any further attack as she considered that.

Down on the floor, Soun took the moment to collect his senses. He struggled once more to his feet, and finally gave Soon Li a close inspection. His blurry vision at last cleared enough for him to realize just who he was fighting and the result was immediate. Holding his head and crying hysterically, Soun cried out, "I've been fighting a woman?"

Confronted with this, what little was left of Soon Li's air of hostility melted away and she waved her hands in front of her reassuringly. "Please, I'm not hurt, it was all-" she started explaining as Soun backed away suddenly.

In that moment, Soun backed into the shop's flimsily built wall, sending a vibration through it. Already greatly upset from the earlier battle, a suspended bar supported by the wall above came loose. With it, all the cooking pots it was holding came crashing down directly onto Soon Li's head. So intent was she on Soun, she did not even perceive the danger before being hit. Having taken no defensive measures, Soon Li collapsed unconscious from the unexpected blow.

In an instant, Soun was next to her, even more upset than before. Those gathered gasped in shock, while the girls took a moment to fully appreciate this. Finally, both Akane and Nabiki jumped into the air joyfully at the success of their father, while Kasumi merely smiled.

"Uh... Miss? Miss Li? Please wake up!" Soun pleaded as he gently patted Soon Li's cheek to try and stir her. Finally, her eyes flicked open and she looked up at him. "Oh, I'll never forgive myself, I hit a woman! Please miss, I'm so sorry!" he said in honest regret.

Soon Li did not initially acknowledge him, instead bringing herself to a sitting position. "That hurt," she muttered as she held her head before looking around to see Soun. "You defeated me," she said in surprise. "You defeated me," she repeated still trying to process the idea. "No one has ever defeated me."

Suddenly Soun dropped into a begging posture. "I'm... I'm... I'm so, so, so, so sorry. Please forgive me."

Soon Li was taken aback by this and looked around, noticing everyone was watching her intently. Getting up to her feet, she reached out and pulled Soun out of his begging position. "I forgive you," she said at last causing Soun to ease slightly. "Tell me, do you know anything of Amazon law?"

XXXXX

Back in the present, at hearing this, Ranma couldn't help but crack up with amusement. This only annoyed Akane. "What?" she asked with a frown.

Ranma laughed. "So your old man fluked out, did he?"

"No he didn't," Akane replied.

"Yes he did. You said yourself, a bunch of pots knocked her out. I'd call that a fluke," Ranma pointed out.

Akane hesitated, caught by Ranma's logic. "It's not that simple! You just try and hit her Ranma, even when she's not expecting it. She reacts so fast she could avoid nearly anything."

Ranma stifled her amused for the moment and considered, looking off at the kitchen where Soon Li was. "Then how'd she get hit?"

"Soon Li thinks she may have involuntarily lowered her defenses during the fight. She was somehow distracted," Akane answered.

"True love huh?" Ranma said with a smirk, but Akane looked back at the kitchen thoughtfully.

"Maybe," she replied. "Not that it was that easy even after that. Soon Li's not a real Amazon... well, she is... sorta. Anyway, it's not like she married Dad just because of the law."

"Not a real Amazon?" Ranma repeated in confusion.

"She means that I'm adopted into the Amazons," Soon Li explained from the kitchen. "In fact, had Soun not been there, I would have been leaving the village shortly after that tournament. I was intending to hunt down some of my family," she continued, adding with a laugh, "Got a bit side tracked."

Akane nodded, and absently looked off at the clock and cringed. "Oh, that took longer than I thought."

"Don't worry Akane. Continue your story. Ranma should know it. I'll call you if you're needed," Soon Li said from the kitchen.

"Uh... alright, thanks," Akane replied and thought. "Where was I... Oh yeah, well Soon Li and dad got to know each other. Dad nearly lost it when he found out about the law. Things sort of developed from that. He decided we should stay in the village for a while until he worked this out. Pretty soon, well... You know."

"But they are married, right?"

"Yeah, of course! It was an Amazon wedding. Kinda interesting. Actually it was a little while after the wedding that I ran into Shampoo, literally..."

XXXXX

It was late in the morning at the village, a few days after the wedding. Although the wedding was done, and the current plans were to soon head back to Japan, Soon Li still had various things to clear up here. For the time being they were spending the nights at her home which was on the outskirts of the village proper. For Akane today was a rare day when she got to go into the village on her own and explore. With all the excitement recently she had little time to truly look around on her own. She was just heading through the village central square where the large, and very ancient, council building was situated, taking in the view as she walked when she rammed unexpectedly into something.

Falling backwards, she landed roughly on her rear in the dirt. The unexpected fall was more painful to Akane's pride than her body, and she looked in front of her to see Shampoo likewise down on the ground. The two exchanged angry looks before getting to their feet.

Akane was the first to speak. "You dummy, look what you did to my shirt!" she said as she tried to brush of the dirt from herself.

Shampoo puzzled for a second, not knowing Japanese, before reasserting her anger and replying to Akane in Mandarin. Akane was likewise puzzled, but Shampoo's intents became clear when she took up a fighting posture.

Little noticing the other children stopping to take in the encounter, Akane was not about to back down from a challenge. "You want a fight, OKAY!" she declared confidently, taking up her own posture to match Shampoo's. An instant later they were in battle.

XXXXX

Only a short while later, an angry and teary eyed Akane arrived back at Soon Li's home, covering her eye. At that moment, only Kasumi was home, reading a book peacefully when she noticed Akane's entrance. "What happened, Akane?" she asked as she set her book aside. In response, Akane revealed her eye which had the beginning of a rather nasty bruise forming. "Have you been in a fight?" she asked with a slight frown of disapproval.

"Yes," Akane admitted, adding in a mumble, "and she beat me."

"I can see that. Wait here, I'll get something for that eye," Kasumi said and headed off to another room. Akane took a seat and moped for a moment until Kasumi returned with a wet cloth and some ointment which she used to treat Akane's eye. "What was this about?"

"Some stupid girl knocked me over and got my clothes dirty," Akane replied through several sniffles.

"Akane, you should not get into fights over such things," Kasumi admonished.

"She started it!" Akane complained in her defense.

"Who was she?"

Akane shook her head. "I don't know. She had purple hair, that's all I know."

Kasumi paused a moment in thought. "Purple hair... oh her. That's probably Shampoo. I hear she's the best fighter in the village of her age."

"Shampoo, what kind of a name is Shampoo?" Akane asked.

Kasumi shrugged. "I don't know. Many of the villagers have such odd names. But in any case, you should try to avoid her, Akane. I've heard she has quite a temper."

Akane hung her shoulders. "Alright, Kasumi, I'll try."

XXXXX

The next day, Akane was off at the local river. Her assigned task was to fetch some water. However, she was also using the time to marvel at it's fast current. Like the day before, as she walked up the path, her eyes were still on the river when she collided with an unexpected obstacle. The pail of water she was carrying spilled out, and Akane could only cringe when she realized that the obstacle was none other than Shampoo, and she was now sopping wet. The purple haired Amazon glared at Akane, and this time did not waste any time with words.

Shortly after, Akane returned once more to Soon Li's home, now with a second black eye to match her first.

"Let me guess, you had another run in with Shampoo?" Nabiki asked as she noticed her sister's arrival.

"Leave me alone, Nabiki!" Akane cried.

"I'll go get the ointment," Kasumi said with a sigh as she headed off.

XXXXX

By the third day, Akane had finally learned to pay more attention to her surroundings. As she walked through the village she spotted Shampoo walking towards her and made sure this time to stay clear. However, she could not help but glare at the girl as she passed. Shampoo responded by saying something in Mandarin, but like the times before, Akane could understand nothing of it, and simply opted to continue on walking.

Such plans got derailed when, speaking aloud for all nearby to hear, Shampoo made another comment in her native tongue. This time many of the girls who happened to be nearby laughed. The young Akane could not hope to hold her temper at this and immediately spun to face Shampoo who was already standing ready for a fight, smiling confidently.

The result was little different than the other day, with Akane returning home in defeat, only this time with a bandage on her cheek to show for it.

XXXXX

In present time, Akane shook her head at the memory of that time. "Well, that went on for days. Nearly everyday I would run into Shampoo and we'd get into a fight which she'd win. It would probably have been a beneficial humbling experience if I was a little older. As it was though, I was getting royally annoyed! Well finally Soon Li noticed, which wasn't too hard with all the bruises I had, and took me to this place in the mountains..."

XXXXX

The young, and much battle worn, Akane looked out over the valley in amazement. She had been asked to come with Soon Li that morning, and an hour long hike had brought them here. Below she could clearly see the entire village and the sight was quite amazing.

"Nice, isn't it?" Soon Li ask as she walked up behind Akane and looked out.

"Yes it is," Akane replied in awe, before looking back. "Why are we here?"

Soon Li motioned for Akane to follow her, and together they headed to the center of a large clearing. "I've taken you here to teach you something."

"What?" Akane asked curiously.

"I've noticed that you have a bit of a temper and a nasty habit of picking fights you can't win," Soon Li replied, causing Akane to bow her head self consciously. Soon Li held her by the shoulder reassuringly. "Your father and I believe you need to learn some control. So, I'm going to start teaching you some of my martial arts techniques."

Akane brightened up at this. "Really?"

Soon Li nodded. "Yes. Your father has given permission for you to learn this style in addition to his but you have to be willing."

"I am, I am!" Akane said in excitement.

Soon Li examined Akane for a moment, and finally nodded. "Alright then. I'll be honest, you'll be the first person I have taught."

"Really?"

"Yes, although Cologne has always wanted me to," Soon Li replied with a smile. "So, it is best to start with this, a traditional promise between master and student. I will teach you to the best of my abilities, and in return I expect you to learn to the best of your abilities. That means I expect you to obey every instruction I give."

"Yes, I promise" Akane vowed without hesitation.

Soon Li once more nodded in approval. "Good. Then let us begin. First off, it is essential that you understand this style's basis. It is not primarily an offensive style, it's main purpose is for defense. Of course, to begin we have to start with the basic forms." Pausing, Soon Li pointed off at the tall grass nearby that was swaying in the wind. "Do you see how that grass bends with the wind?"

Akane looked over and nodded. "Yes. So?"

"Well, that's how this works..."

XXXXX

"Everyday we'd go up there and everyday she'd teach me a little more," the Akane of the present explained. "She taught me alot of stuff that made my old defensive techniques look pathetic in comparison. It was a matter of bending with every one of an opponent's attacks. There was other things too of course, dodging grabs, landing safely from throws and other stuff. Soon Li is a good teacher though, so it only took me a few weeks to learn most of it.

"I'd been avoiding the village when I could but I had to face Shampoo sometime..."

XXXXX

It had been several weeks since Akane's last encounter with Shampoo. Part of that was simply due to the demands set on her by her training schedule, but in reality, Akane had been avoiding going out whenever possible. Today, though, Akane had decided it was time to stop hiding and was walking through the village looking for Nabiki. It was not long before she spotted the person causing her recent torment.

Ahead in the street, a small crowd of girls was just breaking up. At their center was Shampoo who was just finishing stomping on a young boy in glasses roughly her age. Akane gave the boy little notice, figuring he was yet another of Shampoo's victims. Instead, her attention was firmly locked on the purple haired Amazon. However, despite walking her way after leaving the boy to crawl away, Shampoo took no notice of Akane.

Akane breathed a sigh of momentary relief. 'Guess she missed me,' she thought, but then frowned. 'What's the point of avoiding her? I'll run into her again later.' Akane sneaked a look behind her to watch Shampoo. 'How can I beat her though?' she wondered. Despite all her recent training, it had all been defensive. 'I got to try.'

Akane turned and ran after Shampoo. She quickly caught up and ran in front of her rival, giving her a look of challenge. Shampoo was momentarily surprised, but undeterred and readied herself for a fight. Akane quickly did likewise, setting herself in defensive stance Soon Li had taught her and waited. Despite having initiated the challenge, Akane had no idea how she was going to finish it.

After waiting several seconds for Akane to attack, Shampoo finally took the initiative, kicking directly at Akane's head, intent on ending the battle quickly. Akane momentarily froze in her nervousness, but her training thankfully took control and she bent back with the blow. As Shampoo withdrew her leg, Akane returned, unharmed, to her original position, surprising the Amazon.

The surprise did not last long. With greater determination, Shampoo closed the gap and began a rapid series of punches. As before, Akane stuck to her training and like a blade of grass in against the wind, bent with blow, diffusing all it's power to nothing and returned unharmed to her starting position. Shampoo paused a moment, in puzzlement at the lack of effectiveness of her attacks. Once again, the reprieve was brief as she committed to an even more intense barrage of attacks, this time both kicks and punches. Seeing those fail like those before, she tried to grab Akane, but this too she was ready for. At the last instant, she would twist away, leaving Shampoo grasping at nothing more than the air. The move was so quick that it left Shampoo off balance, causing her to stumble for a moment before reacquiring her target.

Several minutes passed like this, and a crowd grew around them as they fought. Despite her best efforts, Shampoo could not land a telling attack. In fact, she was exhausting herself by trying. While Shampoo's attacks were forcing Akane to the limits of her training, she was still unharmed, and relatively fresh, feeling she could go on like this for quite some time to come.

Finally, after nearly ten minutes of fighting, Shampoo spent the last of her strength. Breathing heavily, she collapsed to her knees, and could only look at Akane in disbelief. After a few seconds, Akane too was in disbelief. 'I... won,' she thought and broke into a smile. With Shampoo mounting no further attacks, Akane simply turned and walked away, leaving the crowd stunned.

XXXXX

"I was totally amazed. I beat her without making a single attack. When I told Soon Li she told me that that is the whole point," the Akane of the present explained.

Ranma nodded, and looked off to the side. "Not bad. I could do better."

"You're a stuck up moron, you know that?" Akane replied with a frown.

Ranma returned her attention to Akane with a glare. "You take that back you tomboy!"

"I'm not a tomboy!" Akane retorted.

"Yes you are!"

"I am-"

"Akane, Ranma, stop that!" Soon Li suddenly ordered from the kitchen causing both to fall silent. "Now, apologize, both of you." The two exchanged looks but finally mumbled out reluctant "sorry"s to each other. "Alright then, Akane, get back to your story, and no more arguing."

"Alright," Akane replied, before sighing and giving Ranma a dubious look. "Well, anyway, Shampoo obviously wasn't too happy that I beat her so the next day she challenged me."

"Hold it a sec. What about that kiss of death thing?" Ranma asked.

"Oh that, well since Soon Li was now effectively my mother I was and still am not really an outsider anymore," Akane explained.

"Oh okay. Does that mean you have to obey their laws?" Ranma asked curiously.

"Not really. I'm not considered a true Amazon either so they don't really care what laws I obey. It is a bit of an odd situation."

"Oh. Go on then."

"Well anyway, the next fight basically went the same way, although Shampoo did try some new stuff that didn't work. I knew I had her then but she refused to leave me alone. She challenged me again the next day and the next. Each time I won without using a single attack. In fact, it seemed easier each time. Then things started changing a little..."

XXXXX

The latest round between the young Akane and Shampoo ended much like those previous, with Akane standing, unharmed, and Shampoo on the ground exhausted. For Akane's part, she was starting to become annoyed at Shampoo's daily challenges. While she was becoming less and less a challenge each time, it was still slow and took up Akane's time. Today the match had been fortunately a bit shorter, lasting only about five minutes if Akane were to hazard a guess. Showing her annoyance, Akane frowned at Shampoo before turning to leave. As she did so, however, she could hear various girls in the crowd whispering to each other. A few even giggled and one actually laughed as they started to disperse.

Akane watched them leave in confusion, barely taking notice of Shampoo's anger towards both her and the crowd. Dismissing thoughts on the matter, Akane went on her way, leaving Shampoo defeated in the street.

The next day was much the same, and the day after. Each time, though, the crowd became more vocal. Whispers changed to open comments. A stray giggle or laugh was now open laughter. Not understanding the language, Akane could only puzzle over this reaction.

Training at the mountain site, practicing some of her father's teachings, Akane was taking out some of her frustrations on a rope-wound log. 'Why are they laughing at me? I beat her every time yet they still laugh at me. Is she playing some sort of joke on me or something?' she wondered in frustration. 'I don't know, but I'm not going to let her get to me.' Spinning rapidly, Akane landed a powerful kick on the log, cracking it.

XXXXX

Back in the present, Ranma noticed Akane's expression change to a slightly saddened one. "It went on like that for a while. By that point I'd picked up a few bits of the language so I could tell that the girls were making some rather... colorful commentary, but exactly what I couldn't say. I was sure Shampoo was playing some kind of prank on me and I didn't know how much more I could stand. Then, one day she suddenly stopped challenging me. I didn't even see her for a full week. I thought she had finally given up. Then I found out what was really going on..."

XXXXX

The young Akane was once more in training. Today Soon Li had taken her only a short ways out of the village to a small training area with various obstacles setup. They had come here several times before and today Akane was using a swinging log obstacle to work on using her defense while on the move. Each log weighed at least three or four times Akane's weight, and any mistake while passing through them was not easily forgotten, but at this stage in her training, it was becoming an easy task.

As Akane finished the course, Soon Li smiled and joined her. "Very good Akane. I'll go get the next obstacle ready."

"Soon Li?" Akane asked before she could leave. "Are we... going to be staying much longer?"

"No. I figure we'll be heading out within the week, barring something unexpected. Eager to get home?" Soon Li asked. Akane nodded in slight embarrassment. "Don't worry, I understand. Although we may not be heading there right away. I wanted to go check on something myself, about my family. It's a bit of a side trip, but shouldn't take long, I promise."

"That's okay, I don't mind," Akane replied with a smile.

Nodding, Soon Li headed off to prepare the next exercise. Akane took the time to practice a few of her punches. As she did so, a flicker of movement in the nearby woods caught her attention. Pausing, Akane looked over to examine the area more closely, but just as she did, a dark figure jumped from the trees directly at her. Instinct took over as Akane dodged to the side and set herself to receive another attack. She could make little of her attacker. The figure was in a dark heavy brownish cloak that revealed little, although it looked badly worn. With the hood pulled up, Akane could not even see her opponent's face or head, although she did passingly notice that this person wore nothing on either their arms or legs. About the only thing Akane could judge from this was that this person was probably about her age given the height.

Once more the figure turned and leaped at Akane. This too Akane dodged from, noticing as the person passed by a reflection in the Sun. When the figure turned back on her, she confirmed that the person was holding a small curved sword. Akane had little opportunity to contemplate the danger she was in as the figure rushed her, using the sword like a spear head. Going back to her father's training, Akane sidestepped the attack, and struck down on the person's back as they passed. The force of the blow caused the attacker to fall to the ground, and lose their hold on the weapon. The sword skipped a few feet and out of reach.

This seemed to do little to deter the person. They quickly recovered and jumped at Akane with a kick. This time, Akane went back to Soon Li's training, and let the kick's power go right by her. However, she was not about to wait for this person to wear out. As they passed by, Akane grabbed out at the person's arm and used all her strength to spin. After only a few seconds she released, tossing her attacker several feet roughly into the ground. The figure rolled several times until finally slowing and coming to a stop.

Akane reset her stance, and watched wearily, waiting for any further attack. Such was not to come. After several seconds, the figure slowly got to their hands and knees but did nothing more. Not to be fooled, Akane held her position until she could hear soft sobbing coming from her opponent. Hearing this caused Akane to lower her guard just slightly.

"Akane!" Soon Li called out suddenly and in a flash was next to the youngest Tendo. "Are you alright?" Soon Li asked urgently.

Akane, still confused, took several seconds, but finally nodded. "I'm fine."

Soon Li took a moment to inspect Akane closely before turning her attention to the attacker. In an angry tone she spoke in Mandarin to the figure, but received no reply other than an intensification of the sobbing. Soon Li frowned in confusion before retrieving the sword. "Hold this, Akane," she asked, handing the blade over and walking over to the figure.

As Soon Li approached, the figure turned slightly and started to withdraw, but suddenly stopped. As if consigned to their fate, they stopped any retreat and simply sat back on their legs, and cover their face with their hands. The motion was enough to cause the hood of the cloak to work its way free and fell down to reveal a head of ragged purple hair.

"Shampoo?" Akane said in shock.

Soon Li was apparently equally shocked, as she paused her approach for a moment. Once more she spoke in Mandarin and finally received a sobbing reply from Shampoo. Akane could only watch in puzzlement as the two conversed. At first Soon Li was confused and angry but that quickly seemed to give way to concern as the minutes passed by. About the only things Akane could make out were her own and Shampoo's name being spoken several times, but nothing else. Finally, Soon Li helped Shampoo to her feet and started to walk towards Akane. As she did, Akane looked over at Shampoo, seeing the other girl's face covered in dirt with only streaks below her eyes cleared by tears. However, most striking were her eyes, not only redden from crying, but lacking any strength to them. It was a look not unlike that Akane had once saw in the mirror, the day her mother died. It was enough to cause any anger Akane was feeling to be lost.

"Akane, run home, get some of your spare clothes and a bed ready."

Akane looked back and forth between Soon Li and Shampoo in confusion. "What's going on?"

Soon Li shook her head. "Please, just do as I say. I'll explain later," she replied in a solemn tone.

Akane did not know what to think at this point. Giving Shampoo one last look, she decided to do as she was told and rushed ahead to the house.

XXXXX

Nearly an hour later, Soon Li came out of her bedroom at her home to find Soun and Akane waiting.

"What is this about?" Soun asked. "Akane tells me she was attacked."

Soon Li nodded, and picked up the sword, now resting on the table and tested its edge with a frown. "Yes. You need not worry. I have made her promise not to do such a thing again." Setting the blade aside, Soon Li turned to Akane. "Akane, dear, has Shampoo been challenging you to fights everyday?"

"Well, she was and I beat her everyday," Akane replied honestly. "but they still laugh at me," she added after a second.

Soon Li shook her head. "Akane, they weren't laughing at you, they were laughing at Shampoo."

"What?" Akane exclaimed in shock. "I... I... I didn't know," she quickly protested but Soon Li did not seem angry.

"That doesn't explain why she attacked my daughter!" Soun shouted impatiently.

"She has been disowned by her family," Soon Li answered, putting Soun into a state of shock.

Confused by the terminology, Akane looked back and forth between the two. "Disowned? What's that mean."

Soon Li sighed. "It means she has been... thrown out of the family," she explained, causing Akane to go into shock.

After several seconds of pondering what she just heard, Akane blurt out "WHAT?"

"Apparently she has been defeated by nearly everyone in the village, not just you, although losing to you apparently started the whole thing," Soon Li explained. "She doesn't know why either. Now she's just a joke to the other children. When her parents found out they were not happy."

"They disowned her! That's a little harsh!" Soun said finally in some anger.

Soon Li nodded in agreement, showing her own displeasure in the situation. "I know, and it gets worse. But that will take some explaining. I must go have a talk with Cologne about this. Please don't disturb her, she's hasn't had a decent sleep in days. I'll be back in a few hours."

As Soon Li left, Akane's heart sank. "This is all my fault. I should have just let her win and none of this would have happened," she started muttering to herself.

"Now Akane, you can't go about blaming yourself. You had no idea this would happen," Soun said.

"WELL I SHOULD HAVE!" Akane yelled suddenly and without waiting for a response ran from the room. Soun decided it best not to follow and merely sighed.

XXXXX

It was some hours later when Kasumi finally found Akane sitting up in a tree. "There you are. We've been worried about you," Kasumi said.

"I just needed to cool off," Akane replied then looked down at her sister hopefully. "Did Soon Li talk to Shampoo's parents?"

Kasumi hesitated causing Akane to frown. "I'm afraid they weren't willing to even recognize Shampoo's name."

At hearing confirmation of the worst, Akane pulled her legs to her chest, and looked out at the horizon in depression. "It's all my fault. If I'd known what they were saying..."

"It's not your fault that you don't know the language."

"I should know it," Akane snapped, although her anger was directed at herself. "You and Nabiki picked it up in just a month."

"Yes, but I like learning new things. And Nabiki, well, you know her, if she didn't speak the language she couldn't do what she does," Kasumi argued, but Akane seemed little moved. "You and daddy just haven't had much motivation."

"That's no excuse," Akane replied. "Martial artists are supposed to protect the weak, not..." Akane said, hanging her head.

Kasumi sighed. "Come now, the others are looking for you."

Akane looked down once more, and after a moment's hesitation finally nodded and climbed down.

XXXXX

Back in the present, Ranma could see recalling these events was not pleasant for Akane. "I still feel like complete slime for doing that to her," Akane commented after a moment of silence.

"I don't see how you could have known," Ranma replied sympathetically.

"I could see something was wrong," Akane retorted with downcast eyes. "She was getting worse and worse with every fight. I wasn't improving that fast. The later fights she even started showing up pretty beat up, which I of course didn't do, but I didn't care either. The worst part is, being honest, although I never started the fights, I certainly encouraged them. I would go out into the village practically every day, even when I didn't need too. I just kinda enjoyed beating her."

'I don't think I should respond to that. I'd probably get yelled at either way,' Ranma thought and taking her own advice, remained quiet as she waited for Akane to continue.

Finally, Akane shook herself out of her funk. "The next day Soon Li managed to get Shampoo to come out and talk to us, though she didn't say much..."

XXXXX

The young Shampoo sat before the Tendo family, now dressed in some of Akane's spare clothes. To Akane she looked little better than the day before, merely cleaned up. Her eyes still lacked any strength to them and it was clear that she was deeply depressed. Akane could not help but shy away from looking at her.

Soon Li stood behind Shampoo and addressed the family. "I'm sure you all now know about this situation," she said and received nods in response. "Good, well, I've invited Shampoo to stay with us, if there are no objections. As I already talked over with your father, she has promised me to not repeat the attack on Akane. She has also apologized for such. I'm sure you can understand that she's been having a rather rough time and wasn't fully considering her actions."

"I have no objections," Soun confirmed.

"It would be lovely to have her," Kasumi added.

Nabiki merely shrugged, rather uninterested in the whole affair. "Whatever."

Soon Li looked to Akane, but she could only look at the ground in response. "Well, okay then," Soon Li said, and turned to Shampoo and spoke in Mandarin. Shampoo reluctantly nodded, prompting Soon Li to retrieve a bowl of water she had set out earlier. "There is something that needs to be demonstrated. Shampoo has had a rather unfortunate accident at Jusenkyo, the Training Ground of the Cursed Springs." With one last exchange with Shampoo, Soon Li poured the bowl's contents over her. In an instant she disappeared into a lump of her clothing. After a few seconds, a small pink Siamese cat climbed out, much to the Tendos' shock. "This is no trick. She just turned into a cat. As you can see, the legends are very true. Cold water changes her into a cat, hot water will change her back" Soon Li said as she put the bowl down.

"Good thing we didn't go there first," Nabiki whispered to Akane.

"Does she still understand us?" Kasumi asked curiously.

"Yes, fortunately her mind is left unchanged. Kasumi could you get some hot water?"

"Of course," Kasumi replied and quickly headed off to the kitchen.

"She was there because of me, right?" Akane asked suddenly.

Reluctantly, Soon Li nodded. "Yes. Cologne told her to train there in order to defeat you. Unfortunately a boy named Mousse caused her to fall into the cat spring. Cologne couldn't stand this final dishonor so..." Akane hung her head is misery.

"Way to go Akane-" Nabiki commented

"Nabiki!" Soun quickly admonished, causing Nabiki to fall silent, but the damage was done, as Akane mood became even worse.

A moment later, Kasumi returned with a freshly heated kettle. Taking it and the clothing, Soon Li directed Shampoo into the bedroom. She returned a moment later, leaving Shampoo in the room to get dressed. "Shampoo is rather depressed. Would one of you be willing to keep her company for a while?" Soon Li asked. Akane shrunk back from the request.

"I'd be glad to, Soon Li," Kasumi said after a few seconds.

"Thank you Kasumi," Soon Li replied.

XXXXX

"Sorry to interrupt your story Akane, but it's nearly lunch time so you better get ready," the Soon Li the present said.

"Alright," she replied and looked back at Ranma. "I got to go. You better get home."

"Yeah, guess so," Ranma replied as both stood up.

As Ranma headed out, Soon Li called her to a stop and walked over with a book. "Here Ranma, take this with you."

"What's this?" she asked as she took the book.

"A receipt book for yesterday. Nabiki helps with the book keeping. Can you give it to her when she gets home. I forgot yesterday."

"Uh, sure," Ranma replied then looked at Soon Li seriously. "They really kicked her out of the family just for losing a few fights?"

Soon Li nodded. "I'm afraid so, but it wasn't really her parents decision. Cologne is the head of the family and she is the one responsible."

"Didn't they say anything?" Ranma asked in some anger.

"I frankly don't know, although you have to understand that Cologne can be quite intimidating. She's quite possibly the best warrior in the village, not to mention the Matriarch. Challenging her is not something done lightly."

Ranma frowned. "Sounds like..." she started to say, but held her barbs.

Soon Li unexpectedly smiled. "Oh I agree. I argued personally with her for hours on the matter, but she would not budge and was quite adamant about it. We Amazons in general are full of pride, and Shampoo inadvertently became quite the disgrace. Still, I'm surprised Cologne would go that far. She's the one who adopted me into the Amazons, you see, and until then I thought her to be a very reasonable woman, but I suppose even her pride has limits," she explained, but it did little to ease Ranma's anger. "If you wish, I'm sure Shampoo will tell you the rest."

Ranma became suddenly nervous. "I... don't know. I mean, I'm sure she'd rather-"

"Don't worry Ranma. This was all nearly ten years ago. Besides, there is more to that time in her life than this." Ranma looked skeptical, but finally nodded and headed off. Soon Li returned to the kitchen where Akane was setting out some ingredients. "He seems quite nice."

"Yeah, I guess," Akane admitted, casting the door a quick look, but then quickly added, "when he's not being a jerk."

%End Chapter 2

Well, this marks the original half way point of chapter 2. However, as I mentioned in chapter 1, I decided to split it up so it is a bit easier to consume. Next chapter will complete the original chapter as it is Shampoo's turn to conclude the back story.

Editing wise, I've tweaked several things through here, including explaining what exactly Shampoo was attempting on Kuno during the little fight, and some other minor things for better emphasis.


	4. Chapter 3

%Chapter 3

It was mid afternoon when the now restored male Ranma walked into the Tendo kitchen to get himself a drink. Inside, Kasumi was busy with some dishes. "Ah, Ranma, I didn't notice that you were home. Did you have a nice time with Akane and Shampoo?"

"I guess," Ranma answered.

"That's good. Father will be so pleased that you three are getting along."

Ranma let out a puff of air to express his displeasure with the situation, but Kasumi did not seem to take notice. Deciding to dismiss the matter for now, Ranma turned to another subject as he poured himself a glass of water. "So, does everyone help out at the restaurant?" Ranma asked.

"Yes," Kasumi replied. "We all help out where we can, although no one can quite keep up with Akane or Shampoo's work, so we have some part time employees help out as well."

"I bet," Ranma said with a knowing nod. "Those two are... something else."

Kasumi smiled and nodded in agreement.

As Ranma turned to leave, he noticed his father walk by and smiled deviously. "The old man is nuts if he thinks I'm going through with this marriage thing," he said aloud, and gained the desired reaction from Genma, as he stopped and came into the kitchen.

"What was that, boy?" Genma said, trying to be intimidating but failing as Ranma looked straight into his face.

"I can't believe you pop. You go and marry me off without even asking me."

"Listen here, boy. You have an obligation to marry one of the Tendos-" Genma tried to argue but Ranma quickly cut him off.

"This was your stupid idea, not mine. I have no intention of marrying either of those two violent wackos." No sooner had Ranma said this that he received a sharp blow to the back of the head from a chui. He spun to find Shampoo standing at the outside door to the kitchen. With an angry look she turned sharply and headed back out, leaving her weapon behind on the floor.

"Ow," Ranma moaned in pain and annoyance as he picked up the weapon from the ground.

"Oh, Shampoo is home too," Kasumi replied idly, seemingly not noticing the exchange.

"Now listen here Ranma, you're going-" Genma started to say, but too annoyed to listen, Ranma tossed his drink on his father. An instant later, the now panda Genma growled in displeasure.

"What was that pop? You were saying something?" he asked sarcastically before heading off out the back door that Shampoo had left from.

XXXXX

In the dojo, Shampoo was busying herself with a kata, frowning the whole time. Just outside she could hear Nabiki and Ranma speaking.

"Got the grand tour, did ya," Nabiki said. "Better watch out for Kuno though. He has it out for you Saotome. Was ranting on all afternoon after you left."

"That jerk, I'll cream him if he's tries anything," Ranma replied with some anger.

"Yeah, well, I just thought I should warn you," Nabiki said.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks," Ranma said and came into view at the doorway, chui still in hand. "You dropped this," he said in annoyance as he tossed the weapon to Shampoo.

Shampoo snatched the weapon out of the air, twirled it and it disappeared before continuing on with her kata, refusing to look at the boy.

"Neat trick," Ranma begrudgingly said.

"Is basic technique," Shampoo replied without looking as she continued practicing. Nearly a minute passed before she finally gave Ranma a look, noticing he was studying her. "What you want?" she asked in annoyance.

"Nothing," Ranma replied and turned to leave.

"You be careful. Kuno good fighter," Shampoo said suddenly, pulling Ranma up short.

"I can handle him," Ranma replied dismissively.

Shampoo shook her head. "You very overconfident. You think always win?"

"I never lose," he replied.

Shampoo paused to regard him for a moment. "Fight Shampoo then. See if so good."

"I don't fight girls," Ranma replied as he turned away. It was a lie, although he was not sure whether he said it to avoid the fight, or to annoy Shampoo. Either way, Shampoo took it for the latter.

Shampoo let out a mocking laugh. "You think Shampoo weak?" she asked in challenge.

"I didn't say you were weak," Ranma answered, already reconsidering the repercussions of his previous comment.

"No say but act as if so," Shampoo said with a frown.

"I-"

"What if fight for point, not hurt?" Shampoo suddenly suggested before Ranma could speak, causing him to pause to consider. "You is no afraid to fight Shampoo, is you?" Shampoo asked tauntingly.

"Course not. Alright, just for points," Ranma replied quickly and stepped into the dojo.

The two fighters took up positions opposite each other and entered ready positions. The stand off was brief as Shampoo quickly attacked, kicking towards Ranma's head. Like with Akane the night before, Ranma leaned back, intending to let the kick pass harmlessly over him. Unfortunately, he quickly realized his folly as she changed the motion of the kick in the middle, instead going low. Off balance in the lean, Ranma could not hope to avoid the attack, and found his leg hooked before he could recover. An instant later he toppled to the ground. Shampoo stopped the attack there, and returned to her starting position, waiting for Ranma.

'She knows how I dodge. This isn't going to be as easy as I thought,' Ranma thought as he returned to his feet. "Your point," he admitted reluctantly.

Now reset, Ranma took the offensive this time, rushing forward with a pair of kicks of his own. The first Shampoo cleanly dodged, but Ranma expected no less. The second exploited the dodge forced by the first and caught Shampoo on the shoulder. Like Shampoo, Ranma ceased his attack at that point and returned to the starting position.

Shampoo paused to rub her shoulder and flex it before likewise repositioning herself. "Your point, we even," she conceded before once more going on the attack.

The back and forth battle lasted a good twenty minutes. Despite his best efforts, Ranma was finding himself falling behind in the points. Shampoo was simply too quick, and appeared to out think his defenses. Finally, both breathing heavily, Shampoo called the match to an end. "You good, but Shampoo win,"

"It's not a real fight, I would have taken you easily if it were real," Ranma protested.

"Maybe, maybe not," Shampoo replied. "Anything Goes Kempo not Shampoo's specialty, Akane better. Shampoo like Amazon style more. Maybe have another match, Shampoo fight properly this time. Or, if really brave Shampoo could use Lightning style."

'Lightning style? That must be to do with that electricity she used this morning.' Ranma wondered before shaking his head. "No thanks, this fighting for point stuff isn't my style either," he said.

Before either could continue the conversation, Kasumi called out for the kitchen. "Ranma, Shampoo, dinner is ready!"

XXXXX

An hour later, Shampoo was up in her shared bedroom, working on school work. It was a task she particularly hated. Much of the subject matter she cared little for, and had little intention of putting to use later in her life. Add to that all of it being in Japanese which she was still having some troubles with, and it all was very irritating. After puzzling over one particularly difficult problem for nearly ten minutes that she just could not quite understand, she took her pencil and snapped it in two. "Shampoo hate homework," she muttered to herself as she tossed the broken end into a drawer where it joined half a dozen others like it.

A knock on her door caused her to turn to see Ranma enter.

"What you want?" she asked in mild annoyance.

"Well, I kinda... well, wanted to say... um..." Ranma struggled to say, just further irritating the young Amazon. "I'm sorry for calling you names," he said at last.

Shampoo looked at Ranma in some surprise. "Why?" she asked suspiciously after a second.

"Well jeez, can't I even say I'm sorry-" Ranma started to say defensively as he turned to leave, but Shampoo pulled him up short.

"Shampoo accept apology," she said and after a moment added, "Shampoo sorry call you pervert."

This time it was Ranma's turn to be surprised. "Uh... Thanks, that was her fault anyway."

Shampoo's eye's narrowed. "You no insult Akane."

Ranma quickly waved his hands in front of him. "Okay, okay, I take it back," he said, calming Shampoo. "Why would you like her anyway? From what she told me she ruined your life."

"Is that what she say?" Shampoo asked with a sad look.

"Uh... well, kinda. She does seems like she thinks that."

Shampoo shook her head. "She no know, Shampoo do to herself," Shampoo said. She turned back to her school work and looked at it in disgust, before slamming the book shut and looking over at the floor sadly.

"I didn't mean to bring that up," Ranma said sympathetically.

Shampoo shook her head. "It okay, Shampoo fine. Is long time ago. Akane tell you about Shampoo?"

"Part of it. I don't see how you two could possibly be friends," Ranma answered.

Shampoo looked up, her expression somewhat brightened. "She no tell you that part?"

"She didn't have time," Ranma replied. Seeing Shampoo eye him, pressing for more detail, Ranma continued on. "I guess, she kinda left off when Soon Li took you in."

Shampoo contemplated this for a moment, briefly looking back at her homework. "Better than homework," she muttered then turned to Ranma. "You want hear rest of story?"

"Uh, you don't have to-"

"Hear half of story, should hear rest, no?" Shampoo said, and Ranma couldn't fault the logic. "You promise no laugh?"

"Of course," Ranma replied quickly.

Satisfied, Shampoo directed Ranma to sit on the bed. "Okay. Shampoo not best at tell story in Japanese, but will try," she said as she collected her thoughts. "Shampoo very sad at time. Shampoo have no family, no friends. All Shampoo have was stupid curse. Kasumi try make friend with Shampoo, but Shampoo no want to. Kasumi always try to take Shampoo places..."

XXXXX

To say the young Shampoo was having a rough time would be a most severe understatement. In fact, were you to ask her, she would probably say she was one step short of rock bottom. Considering that about a month ago she felt she was near the top, her fall was all the more traumatic.

About a week ago she had been disowned and cast out of her home. Not long after she foolishly tried to cross a shallow stream, forgetting her curse. That had left her with an old tattered cloak, no food, a few bottles of useless shampoo, and an old child's training sword. Making matters worse, it took her most the day to simply find a source of hot water to change back, leaving her no time to seek shelter. As bad as that day was, the ones that followed were no better. She quickly found herself resorting to stealing just to get something to eat. Then she had seen Akane Tendo.

In hindsight her actions were beyond naive and foolish. At the time, desperation had convinced her that by striking down Akane that maybe her family would take her back in. Such was a foolish thought. Akane was not a full Amazon, but she was nonetheless given similar consideration, not to mention she now belonged to that same family. If the attack had been successful, the results would have been quite the opposite of Shampoo's desire. It was thus strange fortune that the attack was completely ineffective.

This, however, is where that one step came in. Despite her disowning, and her actions that day, Soon Li had gone against their family's decree and taken her in. Even this came at a cost though. In order to stay, Shampoo was forced plead for forgiveness from Akane's father. To her surprise, the man did not look at her with disdain or anger, but instead in sadness. Soon Li had said that he now considered the incident forgiven. That seemed to be confirmed when later that day she had been officially taken in by the family. So, now Shampoo found herself in the care of the Tendos. The roof over her head at night, and the food in her belly were certainly welcome, but she could not shake the uneasiness she was feeling. Given all that had happened, she would not be surprised in the least to be thrown out by them as well at any moment.

This day, Shampoo was out in the village proper, following behind Kasumi as she went about some shopping for the family. The eldest daughter of the Tendos had been acting as Shampoo's companion since that day. She was an odd girl, in Shampoo's opinion, with no combat training to speak of, and a strange air about her that seemed to make everyone naturally like her. This was a particularly impressive feat in the Amazon tribe where most without strong fighting skills were looked down on with disgust and treated little better than vermin. Shampoo knew that all too well at the moment.

"**Why are you doing this Kasumi? I don't want to be here. They just laugh at me,**" Shampoo said as Kasumi finished the last of her purchases.

"**You can't stay in the house all the time Shampoo. You have to get out once in a while,**" Kasumi replied.

"**I'd rather stay home and not be seen,**" Shampoo muttered. As she did, two girls passing by and one gave her a smug smile and laughed. Shampoo cringed. "**You see? I'm just a joke to them.**"

"**Don't pay any attention to them,**" Kasumi replied, herself giving the departing girl a brief frown of disapproval.

"**It's hard not to,**" Shampoo replied.

Kasumi gave Shampoo a sympathetic look, but said nothing more as they continued on walking. A few minutes passed in silence until Akane came running down the street towards them. She stopped as she met up with Kasumi, and gave Shampoo a brief look before speaking with her sister in their native tongue. Shampoo could understand nothing of the conversation, so she just waited. After a few seconds Kasumi nodded and turned to Shampoo.

"**Do you mind going home with Akane? I have to get something else,**" Kasumi asked.

'Yes I mind,' Shampoo thought, but kept that reply to herself. "**No, I guess not.**"

Kasumi nodded. "**Good,**" she said before turning back to her sister and talking with her, once again in Japanese. Akane was quick to protest, but finally nodded. Once more Akane looked at Shampoo, and gestured for her to follow.

Several more minutes passed as the two walked on in silence. Finally that silence was broken as Shampoo caught Akane muttering in Japanese. She could not tell what Akane had said, but her imagination was more than willing to fill in the gaps. Unnoticed by Akane, Shampoo slowed her pace, putting distance between them.

'She hates me. I know she does. She thinks I'm weak,' Shampoo thought as she hung her head. 'She's right.'

Another minute passed and another group of girls walked by. Like those before them, they laughed, and once more Shampoo cringed. This time, a brown haired girl roughly Shampoo's age broke off from the group and began following. She was one Shampoo knew too well. Since her fall from the top, this girl had been taking particular pleasure in harassing her. "**Hey Shampoo, lose any good fights lately?**" she asked before laughing at her own weak joke. Shampoo could only close her eyes and try not to listen. "**What's the matter, cat got your tongue?**"

'Great, now they know about that too,' Shampoo thought in anger, clenching her fists.

"**I heard Mousse is looking for you. You better run off, hide somewhere and sulk.**"

This last comment destroyed Shampoo's restraint and she whirled on the girl and attempted a wild punch. As with several times before, the girl deflected the blow, pushing Shampoo off balance, and used the opening to trip her. Shampoo fell to the ground and rolled over, facing down, fighting desperately with her emotions.

"**What are you going to do now, cry?**" the girl taunted from behind.

Suddenly, just as she finished making the comment, Shampoo heard her yelp out. Looking back, she saw Akane standing between her and the girl who now had a reddened cheek, and was looking at Akane in fear. Akane looked ready to explode, and yelled at the girl in Japanese. Shampoo looked back at the girl to see that she was now holding her cheek and in tears herself. Apparently unable to contain herself, the girl soon started openly crying and scrambled away. The whole scene confused most those looking on. Shampoo was no less confused, especially as Akane turned and helped her back to her feet. As she did so, for the first time she realized Akane was not looking at her in hatred. Instead she looked concerned.

Before Shampoo could say anything, Akane continued on walking. Realizing anything she could say would not be understood anyway, Shampoo followed after a few seconds.

XXXXX

Some hours later, after nightfall, Shampoo was still puzzling over Akane's actions earlier. It was impossible to question her directly on the matter, not that Shampoo would be particularly inclined to do so even if it were not. Shampoo was likewise not enthusiastic about questioning any of the others on the matter. Whether it was fear of the answer, or just the idea that they might take offense to being asked, Shampoo had avoided asking. Still, the reasons for it were bugging her. It was at this time that Shampoo finally managed to find Kasumi alone, reading in the common room of Soon Li's house. If it was safe to ask anyone, it would be Kasumi.

"**Kasumi, why did Akane hit that girl?**" Shampoo asked.

Kasumi looked up from her book in surprise at the sudden question. "**Oh, um... She thought that girl was teasing you. Why, wasn't she?**"

"**No, she was. I thought Akane hated me?**" Shampoo replied.

Kasumi smiled unexpectedly and shook her head. "**No, of course not. She just feels responsible for what happened to you. That's why she's been avoiding you.**"

"**Responsible?**" Shampoo echoed, and gained a nod of confirmation from Kasumi. After considering for a second, Shampoo returned the nod, and walked away to think. 'Well, that's right, she should feel responsible. She ruined my life. My great grand mother can't stand me anymore and my parents won't even talk to me. She did all of it. She...' Shampoo thought as she tried to summon up her old anger towards the girl, but to her surprise, it simply did not come. 'That's not it at all. I teased her. All she wanted was for me to stop. If I'd just left her alone none of this would have happened. It's my fault, all of it.'

Shampoo closed her eyes, in a last ditch effort to control her emotions. However, by this point, she had long since spent her mental reserves of control. 'I'm totally useless. All I'm worth is someone's pity,' she thought and could feel tears begin to form in her eyes. In defiance, she dashed them away with her sleeve, but could not stop herself from shaking. Casting a quick glance back at Kasumi, and seeing her interest solidly on her book for the moment, Shampoo then turned to the door. Without another thought, Shampoo bolted from the house, ignoring Kasumi's calls behind her. She continued to run as long as her body allowed her, only slowing once its demands for oxygen grew too loud to be ignored. Slowing to a walk, Shampoo found herself in the woods, with only the light of the moon to guide her.

Several minutes passed as she walked aimlessly until at last she came to a stream. She wisely stopped short of its edge. While it was barely knee deep even to her small figure, as she had learned some days ago, that was more than enough to transform her. Deciding to take a rest, Shampoo looked down at her reflection in the water. Despite being her face, it looked foreign to her.

As Shampoo was considering this, she could hear calls from the nearby woods. Although they were still some distance, she could tell it was the Tendos looking for her. Shampoo considered for a moment simply giving up, but having experienced so much defeat lately, her stubborn streak decided she would have victory in at least this. Her course decided for all the wrong reasons, Shampoo looked back at the stream and then began to run up its shoreline.

Not far behind, Akane came from the woods, followed by Kasumi. Both quickly caught sight of Shampoo and called out, but she did not stop. With a determined look, Akane quickly ran in pursuit. Shampoo spared them a glance over her shoulder and frowned at Akane. 'Why is it always her?' Shampoo thought.

The chase continued for another minute until the stream joined into a larger river. Shampoo was caught off guard by this, stopping just short of the edge. She quickly readjusted her course along the river's edge, but the delay and the course change gave Akane the advantage. Cutting the corner, she rushed ahead of Shampoo, blocking her path. Seeing this, once more Shampoo stopped and backed off, but not watching herself, her foot slipped on a rock at the river side. She had only time to yelp before falling into the water.

A moment later, Shampoo resurfaced in her cat form. Unfortunately, the tiny feline body, coupled with Shampoo inexperience in it, left her helpless against the river's current. Struggling simply to stay afloat, she was quickly carried down river.

Back on shore, Akane looked near panic at seeing this. Pausing only a second, Akane rushed down the river side, looking around all the while. It was several minutes before Akane spotted something, and raced ahead. Shampoo watched as Akane targeted a small tree at the river's edge. 'What is she doing?' Shampoo thought just as Akane jumped into the air and gave the tree's trunk the most powerful kick she could deliver. The tree's trunk cracked and gave way under the strain. With a bit more force from Akane, she toppled it over the river's edge, creating a flimsy bridge across.

Quickly, Akane jumped onto the tree, and made her way out over the water, directly in front of Shampoo. However, just as she was about to lean over and snatch up Shampoo from the water, the trunk suddenly gave way, unable to hold Akane's weight any longer. This time it was Akane's turn to yelp in fright as she fell into the water, almost on top of Shampoo. Seconds later, Akane managed to resurface, but from her frantic splashing, Shampoo could already guess the worst.

Such concerns quickly became unimportant as the crashing of water against rocks began to roar ahead. Shampoo looked in time to see a series of rapids. As most rapids go, they weren't terribly strong, but given the uncontrolled nature of both girls travel down the river, a collision with the rocks was inevitable. Just as Shampoo was preparing herself for the worst, she suddenly found Akane grabbing her. Thinking the other girl was desperately grabbing at her in a bid to stay afloat, Shampoo tried to pull away, but to her shock found that Akane was instead pulling her in close, sheltering her. 'What is she doing?' Shampoo thought in confusion, but quickly realized that Akane was meaning to protect Shampoo from the rocks.

Having little choice in the matter, Shampoo could do no more than concentrate on keeping her head above water as they entered the rapids. The actual time in the harsh waters was merely seconds, but it felt like hours to Shampoo. She could only watch as Akane was tossed into rock after rock on their way through. The fourth collision was particular bad as Akane hit her head and was knocked instantly unconscious. Thankfully, that was near the end of the rapids, and beyond the river widened significant, slowing it's current. Now free of Akane's grasp, and finally able to consider more than simply survival, Shampoo swam free and considered her options. Although Akane had taken the worst of it, Shampoo was still rather banged up herself. Add to that, she was cold and exhausted. The temptation to simply make her way to shore was nearly overwhelming. However, the lull in the river would not last forever, and with no one else about, Akane would certainly continue to be swept along to an uncertain, but likely deadly, fate.

It took only a second, and Shampoo made up her mind. Swimming around, she snagged the collar of Akane's shirt in her teeth, making certain to keep Akane's head out of the water. Even as calm as the waters now were, it took all Shampoo's strength, and several precious minutes to make her way to shore dragging Akane's limp body through the water. Finally, she felt Akane hit the shallows of the shoreline, and her own paws quickly touched ground as well. Turning, she pulled Akane further up onto the shore until she was secure. Releasing her grip on Akane's collar, Shampoo collapsed to the ground and let total exhaustion overcome her.

XXXXX

It was sometime later when Shampoo came back to the world of the conscious. She awoke, still in her cat form, resting on the mat that had been serving for her bed the last several days at Soon Li's home. No sooner had she taken in her surroundings than she heard Soon Li called out from the kitchen. "**Ah, you're awake. Hold on a moment, I'll get you some hot water.**" Shampoo started at the observation, wondering at just how Soon Li had made it. However, such consideration was quickly forgotten as Soon Li came into the room with a kettle, and used its contents to transform Shampoo back to normal. "**I would have done it earlier, but I didn't want to wake you. You were exhausted.**"

Shampoo quickly grabbed some nearby clothes that had be laid out for her, and began putting them on. "**I'm so sorry, Soon Li. I nearly got Akane killed.**"

Soon Li shook her head. "**Nonsense. You saved her life from what I saw.**"

"**You saw?**"

Soon Li nodded. "**The end at least.**"

"**She was trying to save me,**" Shampoo admitted with a downcast look, once more causing Soon Li to nod.

"**I figured as much,**" the older Amazon replied before looking at Shampoo more seriously. "**Why did you run away?**"

Shampoo hesitated, before answering, "**I don't want to bother you anymore.**"

Soon Li frowned. "**I assure you Shampoo that you are no bother to us.**"

"**You were going to be leaving before all of this, weren't you?"**

"**Yes,**" Soon Li admitted. "**But, we're not exactly in any pressing rush to do so. Besides, I don't think that's the real reason, now is it?**" Soon Li said, giving Shampoo a knowing look, but she did not wait for a reply. "**You don't have to say, but whether you like it or not, we're not abandoning you.**" Shampoo looked up, and after a few seconds, nodded in understanding. "**You've had a rough day, try to get some sleep.**"

"**What about Akane?**" Shampoo asked as Soon Li started to leave.

"**She's mostly got bumps and bruises, nothing too serious. She did take quite the hit to the head though. She's... out for the time being, but I don't think it is anything to be too worried about,**" Soon Li said.

Shampoo nodded, feeling somewhat relieved, and laid down.

XXXXX

The next day, Shampoo was feeling particularly strange. Despite the reassurance of Soon Li, Shampoo found herself worrying about Akane, which in itself was strange, at least as far as Shampoo was concerned. Akane Tendo had been the constant proverbial thorn in her side practically from the day they had first met. However, her recent actions had Shampoo greatly confused, especially when she always felt that Akane had hated her.

Shampoo was pondering all this as she and Nabiki went about some chores in the village. She had not had much contact with Nabiki, and knew little of her other than, like Kasumi, she lacked any real combat ability. Unlike her sister, the air about Nabiki was not particularly special, although she too seemed to manage in the village. Judging from the suspicious looks many of the girls were giving Nabiki, Shampoo could only assume the middle Tendo daughter had some interesting secrets.

The pair was on their way home when Nabiki took notice of one of the local boys. Quickly she turned to Shampoo, and handed off her parcels. "**Ah, Shampoo, could you take these home for me? Thanks,**" she said without waiting for a response, and rushed off after the boy. Shampoo could only watch in confusion at being left behind, and sighed before continuing on her way.

Now alone, Shampoo decided it best to make herself inconspicuous, and started making her way home by some of the less traveled ways. She was nearly clear when she came out by the village gate, on the way to Soon Li's home, when she spotted the girl from the day before just up ahead. 'Her again,' Shampoo moaned in her own mind, but fortunately the girl was too involved in a conversation with some other girls to take notice of Shampoo. Taking this as a minor blessing, Shampoo made her way across the street stealthily. As she passed, however, she caught Akane's name being spoken and paused to listen in.

"**What about her?**" the girl asked in mild annoyance.

"**Yeah, I heard she's in a coma,**" another of the girls answered.

"**So what? She got what she deserves,**" the girl from the day before said.

"**What do you mean?**" another girl in the group asked.

"**Well, she's got a lot of nerve thinking she's one of us.**"

"**I'd consider her more of an Amazon than you,**" Shampoo suddenly found herself saying in response.

The reaction was immediate as the whole group took notice of Shampoo. While seconds earlier she had desired to avoid any conflict, right now Shampoo did not care. She was inexplicably angry. That anger apparently was shared by the brown haired girl.

"**What? She's an unskilled, crybaby outsider with a temper, just like you,**" the brown haired one said, although the insult seemed more to vent her own anger than to get any further rise from Shampoo.

"**At least I don't run away from her, crying like you,**" Shampoo shot back.

The girl was caught off guard by this, and just for an instant glanced at the others girls to gauge their reaction before refocusing on Shampoo. "**Are you calling me a coward?**"

"**Anyone who insults someone when they're not around to defend themselves is a coward,**" Shampoo replied. The girl's anger quickly boiled over.

XXXXX

Sometime later, Shampoo, with the assistance of Nabiki, came hobbling into Soon Li's home, sporting a plethora of new injuries. Soon Li, who had been sitting on one of the chairs, quickly stood up and rushed over to help.

"**What happened?**" Soon Li asked as she examined Shampoo.

Shampoo shook her head and dismissively replied, "**Nothing.**"

"**Nothing? She picked a fight with one of the village girls. It turned into a total brawl!**" Nabiki said with a frown as she dropped the packages off in the corner.

Soon Li looked briefly to Nabiki, then back at Shampoo. "**What was this fight about? Was she teasing you?**"

Shampoo looked away, considering her reply. "**She was saying bad things about Akane,**" she finally answered.

Both Nabiki and Soon Li were surprised by this. "**You fought this girl because of Akane?**"

"**It is very dishonorable to say such things about another when they are not able to defend themselves. I wasn't going to let her get away with it,**" Shampoo quickly replied, but Nabiki gave her a smirk.

"**Very convincing, Shampoo,**" Nabiki said, in obvious sarcasm, before waving the matter away and heading off to the bedroom.

"**She doesn't believe me,**" Shampoo said, almost as if insulted.

Soon Li simply shook her head, stood up straight and sighed, a slightly bemused look on her face. "**Doesn't look like you took any serious damage. But, you know, if you're going to be picking fights then you need to work on your fighting skills. I expect to see you tomorrow at the training ground with Akane.**"

"**She's alright?**" Shampoo asked, unable to mask her concern.

"**Yes, she woke up while you were gone. I told you it was nothing to be too worried about,**" Soon Li replied. "**Now, let's get you cleaned up and treat some of those scrapes.**" Shampoo and started to follow as Soon Li lead the way to the bathroom, but Soon Li paused, and looked back. "**Oh yes, Akane said to thank you.**" Shampoo was momentarily stunned, causing Soon Li to smile before once more leading her on.

XXXXX

The next day, Soon Li had taken the girl up into the mountains once more. After some initial warm ups, she had left Shampoo to the side as she spoke with Akane. Despite every assurance from Soon Li that she simply wanted Shampoo to try, and did not expect anything, Shampoo could not help but feel nervous as she waited. Before, when news of Shampoo's defeats had reached her great grandmother, Cologne too had initially seemed supportive. It was not long before that support turned to anger and Shampoo found herself in her current situation.

Fidgeting in an effort to busy herself and banish thoughts of the worst, Shampoo waited by a tree, wondering just what Soon Li and Akane were discussing. Finally, after a few minutes, Soon Li came over.

"**Shampoo, I have decided that this training situation is unacceptable,**" Soon Li said as she came up. The words were enough for Shampoo to assume the worst. "**She is just going to have to learn Mandarin.**"

"**What?**" Shampoo blurt out in confusion.

"**Didn't you know she didn't-**"

"**Oh, yes I did. I thought you weren't going to train me after all,**" Shampoo replied, looking away self consciously.

Soon Li shook her head. "**You don't get out that easy. Now, you and I are going to teach Akane Mandarin, and maybe we'll teach Soun at the same time. Anyway, she in turn will help you regain your fighting skills. Fair?**" she proposed, to which Shampoo nodded.

"**Yes.**"

"**Good. We'll start with your lessons, go to the field and spar with Akane for a while. I've asked her to not use my teachings, just her father's Kempo. I'll observe.**"

Shampoo once more nodded and headed over next to Akane. As the two met, Shampoo could see Akane looked sympathetic, and even gave Shampoo a weak reassuring smile. Unfortunately, it did little to calm Shampoo's nerves.

Soon Li soon called for the match to begin, and the two girls faced off. After several false starts where Akane let her combat instincts take over and reverted to using her full defense, she finally managed to restrain herself down to just her Kempo. Whenever Akane had fought her as she was now, Shampoo had easily won. Today, even with this limit, to both Soon Li's and Akane's shock, Shampoo was down on the ground in less than 30 seconds. In an instant, Akane was moving to help Shampoo up before being called to a stop by Soon Li, and reluctantly stood back.

The older Amazon walked over as Shampoo got herself back to a sitting position. "**What are you doing? You are hesitating on every attack,**" Soon Li admonished, causing Shampoo to cringe.

"**I don't know. It's um... I keep picking the wrong attack at first,**" Shampoo tried to explain, only causing Soon Li to frown.

"**Judging from your results I would say you would do better using the wrong attack. This time, don't hesitate. Just use your instincts, don't think. Alright?**"

"**Alright,**" Shampoo replied, feeling her nervousness double. However, before Soon Li left she gave a quick squeeze of the shoulder in reassurance. Slightly calmer, Shampoo stood back up and once more faced Akane. With a call, Soon Li once more commanded them to begin. From a pure time perspective, the results were no better than the first round, as Shampoo once more found herself laid out on the ground in about half a minute. The only bright side was that this time she managed to surprise Akane and get a lucky blow in to her ribs, even if it was less than effective.

"**That's a little better but you're really sloppy with your attacks. Try again,**" Soon Li instructed from the side, holding her hand to her mouth in intense thought as she continued to watch.

Much of the afternoon went by in this manner. Despite direction from Soon Li, Shampoo showed little signs of improvement. Akane had remained mostly quiet during the whole affair, simply doing as instructed. After about the tenth bout, Shampoo had realized that Akane was starting to slow down, not from exhaustion, but deliberately. However, Soon Li had quickly ended the match and spoken with Akane, no doubt having picked up on the same thing. Reluctantly, Akane had returned to her original level for the subsequent matches. Normally, Shampoo would probably have found such an attempt to throw the fight insulting, but looking at Akane, she knew the other girl meant no harm, and in her own way was simply trying to help.

Finally at the point of total exhaustion, Shampoo could no longer fight on and Soon Li called the training to an end for the day. After speaking briefly with Akane, she sent her on her way home and came to Shampoo, helping her to her feet. "**I'm useless. I couldn't even get one punch in,**" Shampoo exclaimed in frustration.

"**Well, I see now why Cologne was so upset with you,**" Soon Li said softly causing Shampoo to looked down at her feet. "**Don't worry Shampoo, I'm not mad at you. You just need some time to sort things out.**"

"**What's to sort out? I'm weak!**" Shampoo muttered.

"**Don't be so hard on yourself. I see all the basics there, you're just not trusting in them. You've had a terrible blow to your confidence and it's affecting your fighting abilities. You'll get over it,**" Soon Li replied before gesturing for Shampoo to follow. "**Come on, it's time for Akane's lesson.**"

XXXXX

The days that followed did little to improve Shampoo's impression of her ability. Despite ongoing instruction and advice from Soon Li, from Shampoo's view, she was actually getting worse, although that was likely due to Akane become more used to her attack strategies. That alone was enough to depress Shampoo. Seeing Akane's progress in learning Mandarin made it worse.

Although Akane was a long ways off from speaking properly, she could now manage to string together enough words to make her meaning plain, usually. Seeing such progress is such a short time made Shampoo feel even worse. Still, she could fault no one for her own lack of progress but herself.

It was early evening and as with the nights before, Akane was practicing her Mandarin, with Shampoo acting as teacher. The two were sitting outside to keep cool during a minor heat wave. For now Akane was slowly reading off standard phrases from an old multi-language dictionary that Soon Li had while Shampoo listened for errors. Today she was getting most of it right, allowing Shampoo to be distracted with her own thoughts as she stared off at the woods.

"**It's nice to meet you. Thank you very much. I had a good time,**" Akane repeated careful before noticing Shampoo's lack of attention. "**Shampoo, you hair on fire.**" Getting no useful response, Akane frowned. "Shampoo! Hey!"

Shampoo finally shook herself back to the here and now. "**Sorry.**"

"**Maybe stop now?**" Akane asked, but Shampoo shook her head.

"**No, go on,**" Shampoo replied.

Akane nodded and opened her mouth but then stopped, puzzled. After a few seconds of confusion, she sighed, realizing she'd lost her place. "**Can we some thing interesting?**" Akane asked unexpectedly.

This time it was Shampoo's turn to be puzzled as she tried to figure out just what Akane was saying. "**Hmh? Oh, alright. You can rest for a while,**" Shampoo said and once more let her attention wander.

"**What you think?**"

Shampoo cast Akane an annoyed glance. "**Nothing. None of your business!**"

"**You think about fight? You wonder why lose?**" Akane pressed on, but Shampoo merely mumbled in response. "**You beat... you beat... ahh... Akane before. Why no beat now?**"

Frustrated with all the questions, Shampoo turned on Akane angrily. "**I don't know! I don't know! Alright?**"

Akane withdrew, mumbling a reply in her native tongue. Once more Shampoo turned away and for a minute there was silence between them. "**Why call Shampoo?**"

"**What?**" Shampoo asked in confusion.

"**Why call Shampoo?**" Akane repeated. "**Nabiki... umm... Nabiki say is for hair... wash hair, in English."**

Shampoo looked back at the other girl in annoyance. She really was in no mood to explain that her name was really Shan Pu, and Shampoo was simply a nickname that she had been given. 'She probably wouldn't understand even if I did tell her,' she thought. "**I just am. It's my name,**" Shampoo answered, trying to end the subject, but Akane was unsatisfied with the answer.

"**Shampoo for hair. Stupid name!**"

Shampoo scowled. "**Akane is a stupider name.**"

"**No it not!**"

"**Yes it is! At least I use shampoos. What do you use, akanes? No such thing!**" Shampoo argued.

"**Shampoos?**" Akane asked in confusion. In response, Shampoo pulled a bottle of shampoo from her hair and tossed it to Akane. Akane looked at it in confusion. "**What do with this? Wash to death?**" she asked in a mocking tone.

Shampoo frowned. "**Hey, these can be very useful! Some blends can erase memory, weaken an opponent, cause an opponent to uncontrollably giggle-**"

"**What? How do that? Say 'Can wash hair?'. That no work!**" Akane said in disbelief.

Shampoo smiled. "**No, of course not! I can wash and dry someone's hair in less than ten seconds!**"

Akane puzzled for a second as she tried to piece together a few terms she wasn't familiar with before simply responding. "**No way! I no believe!**"

"**I'll prove it! Come here!**" Shampoo said and after a second Akane nodded and came closer as requested. 'I'll show her, doubting me. This at least I can still do,' Shampoo thought with determination as she pulled the various necessities for the task out of thin air. As she did she paused, considering which shampoo she could use. Most the more interesting formulas she no longer had access to, leaving only a few of the more boring ones. Finally, a devious thought hit her, breaking her into a smile and before any better judgment could get in the way of her fun, Shampoo set about her task. 5 seconds later, Akane's hair was washed, dried, and sparkling clean... and green.

Akane was startled by the speed, and in wonder ran her hand through her hair. "Wow!" she said in honest amazement, before she noticed the color change. "HEY!" In sudden outrage, Akane bolted to her feet and turned on Shampoo who was now laughing. Akane fumed for a moment, clenching her fists as she tried to contain her anger.

"**You needed a change,**" Shampoo teased, feeling for the first time in a long while relaxed, despite expecting to take a pummeling. For her it was simply nice to get a bit of payback for all the recent frustration.

Akane took in several long breaths before her eyes caught on the shampoo bottle now sitting at Shampoo's side. "**I show you change!**" she said before rushing forward and grabbing the bottle. Realizing Akane's intent, Shampoo attempted to withdraw, but found Akane quickly tackling her. Deciding not to go down without a fight, Shampoo grabbed another bottle from her own supply as the two started to struggle

XXXXX

Several minutes later, Soon Li came out from the house to see what all the commotion was about. She came around the corner at a rush, but was quickly brought to a stunned stop by the sight. In front of her, Akane and Shampoo were locked in a struggle to shampoo the other's hair. By this point, each girl's hair was a multicolored mess, and much of their clothes, faces and exposed skin was collateral damage. The sight of the this left Soon Li momentarily speechless, giving the girls enough time to notice their audience and separate. Soon Li blinked several times, then covered her face with a hand and shook her head in disbelief. Finally, after a few more seconds to collect herself, she looked at them both sternly.

"**Look at you two. You're a mess!**" Soon Li exclaimed.

The two girls, who had been kneeling, readying themselves for punishment, looked at one another on impulse. The sight of the other quickly brought both to laughter.

"**I'm sure it's very funny, but your father isn't going to be very amused, Akane,**" Soon Li pointed out, but Akane could not stifle her laughter. "**Shampoo, how long does this last?**"

Shampoo finally regained some control at being questioned. "**About a month,**" she answered honestly, and the answer brought both girls to a fresh set of laughter.

Soon Li stood patiently before the too, giving them both unamused looks. Finally after another minute the two calmed down to mere giggles. "**Alright you two, you've had your fun. Akane, go inside, get washed up, and get those clothes in with the laundry. Maybe we can salvage them,**" she directed and with a quick nod, Akane headed off into the house. Shampoo was about to follow, but Soon Li stopped her. "**I need to talk to you, Shampoo.**"

Shampoo paused, a bit worried, but seeing Soon Li unable to contain a smile, her worry quickly vanished and she knelt back down to listen.

"**I see you've gotten over your little confidence problem.**"

Shampoo looked at Soon Li in confusion. "**What do you mean?**"

"**Well, Akane looks as bad as you do and she probably wasn't letting you do it voluntarily. Obviously you can match her in fighting ability, at least when it comes to shampooing,**" Soon Li explained.

Shampoo shook her head. "**That's not really the same-**"

"**It's closer than you think,**" Soon Li argued. "**You've been thinking too much about the consequences of losing. When you let go of those concerns, that's when you can fight properly.**"

Shampoo paused to think. It was true. Although it was a meaningless battle, or perhaps exactly because it was, for the first time in a long while she had felt on even ground. Most importantly, she had not concluded at the beginning that she would lose. "**You really think so?**" she asked in uncertainty, but hope.

Soon Li nodded. "**I guess you just needed a real good distraction.**"

Shampoo looked up with new found strength. "**Does that mean I can beat Akane now?**"

"**No,**" Soon Li replied honestly, draining much of Shampoo's hopefulness away, causing her to slump her shoulders and look down at the ground. Before her rediscovered spirit completely vanished, Soon Li added, "**But I can teach you to match her, if you'd like.**"

Shampoo once more looked up in excitement. "**Yes, yes!**"

"**Alright then. After we make sure you're back to normal tomorrow, I'll start training you. Now go in and get cleaned up.**"

XXXXX

The next day, at the training ground, things were indeed changing for the better. The first few rounds as usual went Akane's way, but Shampoo felt different. Instead of just using her defeats as evidence to herself that she was inferior, she now looked at them merely as minor setbacks. Weeks of bad habits were hard to break and it was still discouraging to lose, she had to look no further than Akane's hair to know that her opponent was not invincible. Soon, she began to correct the issues and after their fifth round, it was finally Akane who took a fall to the ground.

With a pleased clap, Soon Li called out, "**Alright Shampoo, that's enough.**"

Shampoo nodded, and helped Akane to her feet, noting the other girl seemed happy for her, despite the loss.

"**Okay, Shampoo, you've obviously are back to normal. You're still a little rough but that will get better with a little more practice,**" Soon Li noted as she approached. "**Akane, I want you to use your new defense technique now, not just your Kempo defense. Fight the same way you beat Shampoo before, understand?**"

"**Okay,**" Akane reluctantly answered and prepared herself.

Soon Li then turned to Shampoo, who was already showing signs of nervousness. "**Don't worry. I don't expect you to win, or even do that well at first. Just try. I know it seems impossible, but that's only because you are approaching it in the wrong way. I taught Akane that defense, and I can assure you, it isn't perfect. So, let's talk it through. Now, what do you remember about when Akane fought you before?**"

"**She beat me every time,**" Shampoo answered.

"**How?**"

"**She wore me down.**"

"**Did she attack you?**" Soon Li prompted, to which Shampoo shook her head.

"**No. She just defended.**"

"**Well then, do you need to bother with a defense?**" Soon Li asked.

Shampoo blinked. "**No, I guess I could just attack, but-**" Shampoo started to argue but Soon Li raised a finger to silence her.

"**Trust me,**" Soon Li said, and with a pat to the back sent Shampoo forward towards Akane.

Shampoo looked at Akane in uncertainty. Abandoning defense entirely seemed a foolhardy move, but given the nature of their battles, it did seem logical. Determined, Shampoo rushed forward and attacked Akane. As before Akane would diffuse every punch, every kick. However, as Shampoo started to press her assault, she did as instructed, dropping all pretense of defense, and committing everything to the attack. A minute passed, then another, but the results seemed little different than before. Finally, Soon Li called the match to a stop, letting both girls rest.

"**Good work,**" Soon Li unexpectedly said as she rejoined Shampoo.

"**I didn't hit her,**" Shampoo pointed out in confusion.

Soon Li smiled. "**I know, but look at her,**" she said, pointing at Akane. Shampoo did as instructed and noticed immediately the difference. Akane was nearly as exhausted as she was. "**She's getting worn out. Before, you were the only one being worn down. You've increased the pressure enough that she can no longer stay that far ahead of you,**" Soon Li explained. "**But, it is still not enough. You need to pressure her even harder. Now, since you're not hitting, should you bother putting much strength behind your attacks?**"

"**No, but what should I do then?**" Shampoo asked.

"**Attack as fast as you can. Don't worry if the hits don't do any damage, just attack quickly.**"

Once more the advice seemed initially totally wrong, counter to much of what she had been taught. It seemed pointless, but Shampoo could only trust in the directions.

After finishing their breather, Soon Li once more sent them against each other. As instructed, Shampoo dispensed with the power of her blows, and concentrated everything on getting the attacks off quickly. Without the need for wind ups, or positioning, the blows quickly turned into a blur of motion, and the affect was obvious. Despite the lack of strength behind the attacks, Akane had little choice but to step up her defense. However, it quickly taxed her, and within a minute she was already letting attacks slip through. They were of little consequence, but when Soon Li called them to a stop, the impact to Shampoo's confidence was immense.

"**I hit her! I hit her!**" Shampoo exclaimed as her instructor joined her.

"**Yes, I know. Very good. But, you still aren't doing any real damage. You may be getting through, but you won't win like this. So, you'll need make those hits count somehow. So, how does she stop you from doing damage?**" Soon Li asked.

Shampoo looked over at Akane briefly then back at Soon Li. "**She bends with my attacks.**"

"**And how can you stop that?**"

"**Don't give her a place to move?**" Shampoo answer in uncertainty.

"**Precisely.**"

Shampoo shook her head. "**But I tried that before. She's too-**"

Soon Li once again raise a finger, silencing Shampoo. "**When you tried before, you weren't applying any great pressure to her. She was able to see the attacks coming and avoid them. Now though, she is under much more strain. Keep that up and force her to give you an opening, then exploit it.**"

Shampoo looked at Soon Li for a moment in consideration, then turned to Akane, determined. The next round proceeded little different than the last, with Shampoo putting everything into attacking Akane. As before blows were getting through, but to little affect. However, soon, Shampoo saw the opening she needed. As Shampoo watched she noticed that Akane was bending particularly far back to avoid head kicks, allowing the most blows to get by while she reset. Seeing the deficiency, Shampoo once more kicked at Akane's head, but just as Akane fully committed herself to bending with the blow, Shampoo changed the direction of her attack. Sliding down with her other leg, Shampoo scissor locked Akane's legs. Caught off balance, Akane could not escape, and with a sharp twist she was sent crashing uncontrollably to the ground. Now exposed, Akane could only try to block as Shampoo lashed out with a back hand towards her face, but it was too late.

"Oww!" Akane squeaked out as the punch got through, not only hitting her on the forehead, but forcing the back of her head to hit the ground.

"**Alright, that's enough,**" Soon Li called out.

Shampoo released Akane, and helped her back to her feet, winching sympathetically as she noticed Akane rubbing her forehead. "**Sorry Akane, I got over excited,**" she said reflexively but Akane gave her a weak smile.

"**No worry. I fine. Good fight,**" Akane replied as Soon Li walked up. A quick inspection and Soon Li ensured there was no lasting damage done.

"**Alright, that's enough for today. Akane go home and get that bump tended to.**"

Obediently, Akane nodded and headed off, leaving Shampoo with Soon Li.

"**I got a good hit in,**" Shampoo declared happily.

Soon Li nodded. "**Yes, I know. You just learned the basics of the Lightning school of Storm style martial arts. Total offense, speed and, of course, analysis of an opponent's defense. It is the perfect match for Akane's Wind school. Now remember, Akane wasn't fighting back. From now on she will and that will make the fight a lot more difficult. You'll need to get some more endurance and speed to stand a chance but I'm sure you're up to it.**"

"**So I'll be able to beat her?**"

Soon Li shook her head. "**Not all the time. Neither school is ensured victory. It will be more of a balance. The one who is faster and more endurable will probably win.**"

Shampoo thought about this for a moment then smiled. "**That's okay. That will do.**"

XXXXX

Soon Li was correct. Without restraints, Akane became a much more formidable opponent for Shampoo. Still, knowing that she could be defeated, and having Soon Li's teachings backing her, it was not long before the two were on even terms.

As nice as it was to get back on her feet when it came to the martial arts, Shampoo was becoming increasingly aware of something else; she liked spending time with Akane. With Akane's improved Mandarin, the two often ended up talking. It was nothing of any particular consequence, but it was nonetheless enjoyable. Even sparring against each other took on a particularly odd feel. Shampoo had no regular sparring partners before, and when she had fought other girls it was always to win and prove herself. With Akane it was more simply about improving themselves. They could both feel happy for the others progress and even when losing Shampoo was finding the time a pleasant one.

As Soon Li drew the day's lesson to the close, the two exhausted girls sat opposite one another after a particularly intense final exchange. "**Akane, Shampoo, that is very impressive,**" Soon Li praised as she walked over.

"Ah... um..." Akane hesitated as she tried to remember the words.

"**Thank you, Akane?**" Shampoo coached, causing Akane to smile back at her sheepishly, no doubt embarrassed to have forgotten the simple term

"**Thank you Soon Li. Thank you Shampoo,**" Akane said.

"**I think we can call it a day,**" Soon Li said, prompting both girls to stand up. "**Oh, actually, Shampoo, Akane, could you get me a few things in the village?**" Soon Li asked, grabbing a small list from her pocket and handing it over to Shampoo. Shampoo replied with a nod, noting a peculiar quality to Soon Li's smile as she departed.

Akane apparently had also noticed it. "**She up to something.**"

Shampoo thought for a moment, and found that she had to agree with Akane. Since beginning her training with Akane, Soon Li had kept Shampoo at home. This was the first day she had deliberately sent her out into the village. The conclusion from that was unmistakeable. "**Yes, I know,**" Shampoo finally said, flexing her hands and smiling. "**I've been waiting a long time for this.**"

XXXXX

About an hour later, Shampoo and Akane were finished gathering the parcels Soon Li had requested. Now as they headed home, Shampoo was scanning their surroundings intently. With Akane nearby, the village girls had remained quiet. That suited Shampoo fine, as there was really only one girl she was interested in. Finally, Shampoo caught sight of her. The brown haired Amazon, Shampoo's persistent tormentor, was likewise engaged in some chores in town and had yet to notice Shampoo or Akane. Handing her bags off to Akane, Shampoo headed directly over to meet her.

Finally the girl took notice of Shampoo marching up to her, and with a confident look, asked. "**What do you want?**"

"**I challenge you,**" Shampoo replied easily.

The girl seemed undeterred. She dropped the package she was carrying to the ground and set herself for a fight. "**If you want to get beat again I'm all too glad.**"

The battle was brief, surprisingly brief even by Shampoo's expectations. This Amazon had never been very noteworthy, but Shampoo had expected a bit more of a fight than she ended up getting. In fact, after overcoming the girl's guard with ease in but a few seconds, Shampoo landed a powerful blow to her face, bloodying her nose. That blow seemed to take all the fight out of her, and the girl retreated, openly crying from the injury. Shampoo did not pursue. Her point was made, she returned to Akane's side, giving several nearby onlookers challenging looks before the pair headed home.

"**Just her?**" Akane asked as they walked.

"**Just her,**" Shampoo replied, feeling satisfied.

Akane nodded, and smiled.

XXXXX

That evening, Shampoo was sitting outside the house, looking up at the night sky. Akane soon joined her, but the sad look on her face made clear this was not to be a normal Mandarin training exercise.

"**What's wrong, Akane?**" Shampoo asked.

Akane hesitated, then answered, "**I hear... we go... ahh, soon. End of week.**"

"**You're leaving the village?**" Shampoo asked, and Akane nodded in confirmation. Shampoo hung her head. She had long known that the Tendos were staying in the village for her sake, delaying their departure. 'I guess now that I can fight properly again, they figure they can go,' Shampoo concluded.

"**Soon Li say you can stay house. She no need no more,**" Akane said, to which Shampoo only mutely nodded.

"**Maybe... maybe you come with us,**" Akane suddenly suggested, but Shampoo shook her head.

"**I can't. The village law says children can't leave the village without proper permission. I don't have anyone who can give me that permission anymore,**" Shampoo explained.

Akane looked on, confused for a moment. "**Why you need permission?**"

"**I'm still an Amazon, Akane,**" Shampoo explained. "**The village does have rules about this sort of thing.**"

"**I thought Cologne... she make no Amazon anymore?**" Akane asked, but Shampoo shook her head.

"**Cologne can't do that. Only the council can,**" Shampoo explained. Akane nodded but frowned.

"**Is stupid,**" Akane exclaimed in frustration. "**Why no just**** come anyway?**" Akane argued, but once more Shampoo shook her head.

"**If I came, you all could get in trouble. They could say you're kidnapping me.**"

Akane scowled, and muttered something no doubt colorful in her own language in frustration. After taking in several calming breaths and letting out a long sigh, Akane said, "**I want say I... sorry.**"

Shampoo looked back at Akane. "**What are you sorry about?**"

"**I mess up you life.**"

"**No you didn't,**" Shampoo replied.

"**But I-**" Akane started to argue, but Shampoo cut her off.

"**No, what happened was as much, if not more, my fault than yours so stop feeling guilty.**"

Akane once more let out a sigh. "**This stupid. Whole mess because got mad about dirty clothes.**"

Shampoo glanced at Akane, remembering back to their first fight. "**It wasn't that.**"

"Huh?"

"**I was... jealous.**"

"**Jealous? Of me? Why?**" Akane asked in confusion.

"**You were getting my attention,**" Shampoo answered, but Akane could only look on, confused by the reference so Shampoo explained further. "**It was when you first got here. I was there when Soon Li was talking to you, remember?**"

Akane thought for a moment then finally nodded. "**I remember.**"

"**I got mad because she was paying more attention to you than me. Then your dad went and beat her...**" Shampoo explained, trailing off as she remembered back herself. "**Do you know how much I've wanted to get Soon Li's attention, to talk to her? She's probably the best warrior in the whole village, except maybe great-gran... Cologne. She's so good that Cologne adopted her, that's never happened before.**"

"**Adopted her?**"

"**Didn't you know? She's not an amazon by blood. She came from outside the village. Cologne raised her from when she was really young. Everyone in the village wants to know what makes her so special to deserve such an honor.**"

Akane nodded in understanding. "**Oh, you think no skilled outsider get what you deserve.**"

"**Yeah. I always got what I wanted, I was used to it. It's annoying seeing someone else get something I want,**" Shampoo replied, and let out her own sigh. "**It's still a stupid reason for this mess though.**"

The two remained in silence for a few minutes, not knowing what else to say. Finally, Akane stood up, intending to return inside. "**I'm going to miss you, Akane,**" Shampoo unexpectedly said, bringing Akane to a stop.

"**You no blame me, instead miss me. You unbelievable!**" Akane replied.

"**I... I think of you as a friend. Probably the only true friend I've ever had,**" Shampoo admitted, startling Akane.

"**What? No.**"

"**It's true. I've never been much for making friends. The others always seem to avoid me, except for Mousse, though I'd prefer it if he did,**" Shampoo explained. "**I guess I must have made them all mad at me.**"

Akane shook her head in puzzlement. "**Why be mad at you?**"

Shampoo pondered that for a moment, and with a self mocking smile answer, "**Well, I am a bit on the arrogant side, you know.**"

"**No you not,**" Akane denied with a frown.

"**Not anymore. Hard to be arrogant when everyone could beat you.**"

Akane had to nod in agreement with that. "**I sure you make friends now.**"

"**Maybe,**" Shampoo replied uncertainly.

Akane stood for a second in silence. "**If not, I always be friend, okay?**" she said with a reassuring smile.

Shampoo looked up at her, and could not help but smile back. "**Okay, and thank you.**"

Finally Akane turned and departed. Shampoo watched her leave, seeing her briefly turn back at the doorway, before looking down at her feet sadly. Akane remained there for several seconds, apparently lost in her thoughts, before finally entering the house.

Shampoo remained outside where she could catch the faint sounds of a discussion inside. It was all in Japanese so she could understand nothing of particular insight, even if she could have heard it clearly, but Shampoo knew they were discussing leaving. Shampoo paid it little mind, instead wondering how she would get by. Having a house would help, but there was still so much more. 'Maybe if I go to one of the other elders...' Shampoo pondered before noticing the conversation within had ended.

"**Shampoo, come inside for a minute. We have to talk to you,**" Soon Li called out from the doorway.

Looking over, Shampoo sighed and stood up, knowing the subject to be discussed all too well. "**Alright.**"

Following Soon Li inside, Shampoo found the Tendos all gathered in the room, but unexpectedly, when she looked to their faces, they did not look nervous or sad. Soun and Kasumi were simply smiling, while Nabiki was being her usual unreadable self. This confused Shampoo, especially as Akane too seemed excited. "**What's going on?**" Shampoo asked.

Soun stepped forward, clearing his throat and saying a few words in Japanese before being urged on Akane, likewise in Japanese. Finally he fixed Shampoo in his gaze and said, "**Okay, Shampoo, we make decision.**"

"**That's, we've made a decision,**" Soon Li corrected.

Soun nodded, "**We've made a decision. We leave tomorrow and we like you come with we.**"

"**Us.**"

Once more Soun nodded to Soon Li in thanks for the correction, and repeated, "**Us.**"

Shampoo looked at him in confusion. "**I'd like to, but you know the law. Amazon children cannot leave the village without their parent's permission. I can't even talk to my parents.**"

Soon Li decided to take the lead at this point. "**Quite true, but you gave Akane an idea to get around that little problem.**"

Shampoo looked at Akane in question, but the other girl remained tight lipped for the moment. "**How?**" Shampoo finally asked.

"**Well, I was adopted, remember?**"

Shampoo blinked in surprise. "**You're going to adopt me?**"

Soon Li shook her head. "**No. If it were that easy, I would have done so already. Unfortunately, I am a member of your family, meaning only Cologne could approve such an adoption, and she obviously won't.**"

Shampoo shook her head in confusion. "**If you can't, then what-**"

"**I can adopt,**" Soun cut in to say, startling Shampoo.

Soon Li nodded in confirmation. "**Soun is the head of his own family and is only a relative to Cologne through marriage to me. Because of that, Soun can adopt you into his family and she has no say in the matter. He's also now technically a member of the tribe so he can adopt you, if you wish.**"

Shampoo was so surprised she could only fumble for words.

"**We'd love to have you as a sister,**" Kasumi said in her usual cheerful manner.

Even Nabiki smiled at this point. "**Yeah, come on Shampoo, things would get boring without ****you.**"

"**It be great to have you come,**" Akane added at last.

Still, Shampoo could not form a response, so caught off guard by the turn in events.

Finally, Soun took Shampoo by the shoulders. "**You practically member of family already, this just make official. I very happy if you agree,**" he said.

Shampoo look at Soun, seeing that his words were sincere, and suddenly felt her eyes become moist. Quickly she dabbed away the tears with her sleeve, reset herself and nodded. "**Okay.**"

Everyone in the room took the answer with great cheer and Shampoo quickly found herself he recipient of many hugs. Once the excitement died down a bit, Soon Li spoke up. "**Well, since that's decided I guess we'll all be going as soon as it is finalized, which shouldn't take long.**"

"**Maybe go Jusenkyo, find cure?**" Akane suggested.

"**Sounds like an excellent idea. Soun?**" Soon Li asked, and her husband nodded without hesitation.

"**For new daughter, will make short stop,**" Soun said.

XXXXX

"Short stop turn into many, many short stop after that," the Shampoo of the present explained. "We no find cure, but always seem find clue to new one. Also go look for Soon Li's family. No find either though."

"What's wrong with the Nyanniichuan?" Ranma asked.

"You no know, Ranma? You been Jusenkyo," Shampoo noted.

Ranma sheepishly smiled. "Well, we kinda had to leave in a hurry. I never really considered using the other springs as a cure until we left China."

Shampoo nodded in understanding. "They would no cure. Curses at Jusenkyo mix. If Shampoo use Nyanniichuan then change to half cat half girl. Hard to go unnotice that way," she explained.

"Lovely. I'm going to be stuck this way for the rest of my life," Ranma said in depression.

Shampoo looked at him sympathetically. "Maybe, but Shampoo hear of other spring like ones at Jusenkyo that no mix. Never find, but if ever can find, maybe then get cure."

Ranma nodded, but was little cheered up by the idea. After a second he brushed aside such concerns and asked, "Must be rough being so far from your family."

"Shampoo's family here," Shampoo quickly responded. As Ranma examined her, though, he could tell that her response was not entirely honest. However, he decided not to make an issue of it. Finally, Shampoo turned back to her school books. "Shampoo do homework now. You go."

"Okay, okay, I'm gone," Ranma replied and left. Shampoo, however, watched him leave, regarding the doorway for a moment after his departure, before finally returning to her school work.

XXXXX

'You know, after hearing all that, somehow my life doesn't seem nearly so rough anymore,' Ranma thought as he walked down the stairs. 'I guess that explains why they're so close.'

Just at that moment, Akane opened up the front door, looking exhausted. The two exchanged looks, before she started on her way upstairs.

Ranma considered for a moment then turned and said, "Thanks Akane."

Akane stopped and looked back in confusion. "For what?"

"You know, for helping with Kuno," Ranma replied.

Akane was taken a bit off guard by this, but finally replied. "Didn't matter much."

"Well thanks anyway," Ranma reiterated before continuing on his way downstairs.

Akane watched him go and was about to continue upstairs when Nabiki came down the stairs. "He's not such a jerk after all, huh Akane?"

"He's okay, I guess," Akane replied. "Don't start getting the idea that I like this engagement, Nabiki."

"Just making conversation," Nabiki replied in a bit of tease before she too reached the bottom of the stairs and headed out of view.

%End Chapter 3


	5. Chapter 4

%Chapter 4

The next day the threesome of Ranma, Akane and Shampoo were once more on their way to the school. Unlike the previous day, where the girls were talking with one another in Mandarin. Behind, and walking on the fence, Ranma watched them intently. For him, today felt significantly different than the day before, and not simply because of the girls being more vocal. However, exactly what had changed, Ranma could not quite identify.

Shaking his head, dismissing his confused thoughts, Ranma noticed the school come into view and descended to the street. "Do you want me to help you with those guys, Akane?" Ranma asked.

Mildly surprised, Akane looked back and shook her head. "No thanks, I can handle it," she replied, and if Ranma was not mistaken, even letting a slight smile cross her face before masking it with a frown. "And don't get in my way."

"Just trying to help," Ranma replied as the boys from the school apparently took notice and started their charge.

Akane, as Shampoo had done the previous day, handed her school bag off, and quickly rushed into the fray. Unlike the previous day, there were no hints of bad weather, and plenty of time to spare before class began, so Shampoo merely gestured for Ranma to follow her, and the two jumped up onto the stone fence of the school and watched. Akane's method of dealing with the boys was a fair contrast to Shampoo's. She was like a wisp of smoke, elusive as she dodged between blows, easily outmaneuvering her opponents. While they found themselves persistently out of place, she would take advantage, either striking directly or misdirecting attacks so that the boys often ended up knocking each other out. The end result was little different though as they fell rapidly.

'I don't believe these two! Akane's just good as Shampoo,' Ranma thought with a frown before turning to Shampoo. "Hey, not that she really needs it but why don't you help?"

"We make deal with Kuno. He no beat us together, so let one rest while other fight. He so stupid he accept," Shampoo replied.

"Kinda risky, isn't it?"

Shampoo thought for a second before shrugging. "Might say that, but Soon Li say good training. Besides, we no ever have trouble with them."

As Shampoo finished her reply, Akane knocked the last of her opponents high into a tree and sighed. Ranma and Shampoo soon jumped down to join her. The three looked around in some confusion before Ranma finally said what all were wondering. "I wonder where that jerk Kuno is anyway?"

XXXXX

Unlike the previous day, this day went by without further incident. However, despite that, Ranma could not help but feel strangely uneasy.

With the school day done, and Shampoo off to work at the Nekohanten, Ranma returned to the Tendos' home with Akane, and soon found himself in a sparring match with his potential fiancee. Unlike the previous match, Ranma was giving Akane a lot more attention this time, although she had restrained herself far better than the previous match and was keeping her wind technique down to a minimum. Now knowing what to expect, he was keeping on his feet, but Ranma could tell that Akane was holding back. Her offensive attacks were devious, and often seemed to come out of nowhere. However, those he could generally deal with. It was this defense he had heard about the previous day that had him a little unnerved.

"Come on Ranma, attack me already! You're just wearing yourself out," Akane said in mild annoyance.

"I said I don't fight girls," Ranma lied. If he were truthful, he would have said he did not see any opening that he did not deem to be simply traps.

Akane frowned and rushed him, going down low in an attempt to sweep his legs. Ranma was ready, and deftly jumped over Akane to get behind her, hoping to expose an opening, but as with all the times before, her reactions were incredibly quick. She twisted about in an instant, closing all holes in her guard before Ranma could even think of attacking. 'I'm starting to see the problem Shampoo had. At the rate I'm going here, I won't get a single attack in and just wear myself out trying,' he thought.

Before the match could continue any further, though, Nabiki appeared at the doorway. "Hey Ranma, I got a letter here from Kuno for your better half."

"What?" Ranma asked in confusion, not initially getting Nabiki little joke. After a second, it clicked and he gave her a glare which she only smiled at before handing him the letter and leaving without another word.

XXXXX

Later than night, Shampoo was on her way home from work. As usual, it had been a hard day, but also a good day as far as training went. As she walked, Shampoo let herself briefly consider Kuno's disappearance that morning. 'I wonder what he is upto?' she thought before noticing a familiar figure up ahead.

That figure was Ranma's female form. She was walking in the same direction as Shampoo, and so had yet to notice the Amazon. In her hand she held something Shampoo couldn't quite make out, and she seemed to be walking in a bit of a daze. Shampoo watched her for a moment in confusion before calling out. "Ranma, what you do out here?"

Ranma instantly stopped, and nervously turned to face Shampoo, hiding the object in her hands behind her as the Amazon approached. "I just wanted a walk," she replied in an obvious lie.

"What those behind back?" Shampoo asked as she finally caught up.

Ranma hesitated, but then pulled out a bouquet of red roses from behind her. "Ahh, these? Well..."

Shampoo looked at the roses. "Look like Kuno type flower. Why he give you?" Shampoo asked an instant before a thought hit her. "He no...?" Shampoo started to ask, and in response Ranma looked off to the side self consciously. "He do! Kuno like girl-type Ranma!" Shampoo said with sudden amusement and was quickly possessed by laughter.

"It's not funny!" Ranma protested in annoyance.

Shampoo stifled her laughter, contenting herself to merely smiling. "Sorry. Guess he no know you real boy, or he just pervert?"

"The dope doesn't know I change into a girl," Ranma replied.

Shampoo nodded. "Mmmm, yes Kuno very stupid! He once see Shampoo change to cat. He think Shampoo magician."

"I think I'm going to be sick!" the transformed boy moaned, her complexion convincingly pale.

"No worry Ranma, Shampoo know you no pervert. Kuno other matter," Shampoo replied with some sympathy.

Ranma looked at Shampoo for a brief moment in skepticism, but final let herself give a weak smile. "Thanks."

Shampoo took this for what it was worth, and walked up next to Ranma. "We go home now, yes?"

Letting out a heavy and ragged exhale, letting out her recent frustration, Ranma stood to her full height and nodded. "Sure," Ranma agreed, looked down the road then paused before offering the flowers to Shampoo. "Here."

"Your flowers Ranma," Shampoo said with a teasing grin, but Ranma persisted.

"You can have 'em."

Shampoo looked at the flowers, and finally accepted them. Ranma wasted no more time and began walking home. Shampoo looked at the flowers once again, then back at Ranma. It was not the first bouquet of flowers she had gotten from Kuno, but somehow, receiving it from Ranma felt different. 'You're being silly, Shampoo,' chided herself, before following Ranma.

XXXXX

The next day Ranma, back to his male self, was walking along the fence on his way to school, yawning. Akane and Shampoo walked along the ground beside him.

"Didn't get much sleep, huh?" Akane commented.

"I had a totally gross nightmare," Ranma replied.

Shampoo looked up at the boy, unable to hide a hint of concern from Akane. However, at noticing Akane watching her, she quickly averted her eyes and reset her appearance. All that did was make Akane more suspicious. She had caught the pair coming home together the previous night, Shampoo with a fresh set of roses, and since then Shampoo had been acting a little... odd. If Akane did not know Shampoo better, she might have concluded the pair had shared a romantic moment, but Akane did know Shampoo better than that. The Amazon would not hesitate to talk about that. No, this was more subtle. Shampoo knew something that she was not willing to speak about easily, and Akane could only guess it was something to do with Ranma's current mood.

Not getting any answers from simple observation for the moment, Akane returned to form. "Yeah, you look horrible. I can't stand baggy eyed guys," Akane commented, causing the desired irritation in the boy.

"Well I can't stand tomboys, so there," he retorted weakly, sticking his tongue out.

Akane merely shook her head. "Never mind, I'm not going to play this game today. We're late enough as is."

"Hmmph," Ranma snorted dismissively, before descending to the road as the wall came to an end. The next few minutes passed in silence before the school came into view. As usual, the crowd of boys was waiting, and at noticing girls' approach began to ready themselves. "Don't these guys every take a day off?"

"No," Shampoo replied as she stepped forward. "Shampoo no in mood for this today."

"Uh oh," Akane whispered, gaining a puzzled look from Ranma. However, the answer came just as the boys charged. A crackle could be heard, causing Ranma to look to its source to see Shampoo in intense concentration. Looking closer he could Shampoo was ever so subtly rapidly moving her right arm, and as she did more crackling could be heard.

'You got to be kidding,' Ranma thought just as the crackles turned into visible arcs of electricity down Shampoo's arm. Reflexively Ranma backed off, Akane quickly joining him as the display intensified. The boys were no less aware of the danger as their charge came to a stop and in a panic they began to retreat. However, such proved futile as Shampoo rushed forward and jumped into the air, drawing back her lightning sheathed arm. With a battle cry, just as Shampoo landed, she plunged her fist into the ground.

With the punch a great clap of thunder filled the air, and the electricity faded from Shampoo's arm. For an instant, nothing more seemed to happen, but the calm was momentary. A fraction of a second later the ground in front of Shampoo exploded into the air. The explosion continued, moving forward far faster than the boys could hope to evade, and within a second they were caught in the onslaught. Screams of pain could be heard as the boys were tossed helplessly into the sky, scattering them in every direction.

Shampoo rose back to her feet with a nod, satisfied as the dust cleared revealing all her opponents defeated.

"Rather loud!" Ranma complained as he rubbed his ears which were still ringing from the thunder.

"It can get a lot louder," Akane replied, but Ranma ignored her, approaching Shampoo.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked, gesturing at the now destroyed street.

"Yes!" Shampoo answered and without further word continued on her way.

Behind her, Akane joined Ranma. "What was that anyway?" he asked as he began following.

"It's called the Thunderclap Shock Wave," Akane answered.

Ranma shook his head. "I guess they don't call it Lightning style for nothing," he commented idly just as a newcomer came into view. Charging from the school, his sword at the ready, Kuno rushed at Shampoo.

"Shampoo Tendo, I challenge you!" he shouted, causing Shampoo to sag her shoulders in tired annoyance. However, before she could even change her posture to meet the new challenge, Ranma rushed by, angrily muttering Kuno's name.

The Kendoist barely had a chance to register the new threat before Ranma planted a flying kick into his face. Kuno collapsed backward from the force of the blow, and hardly hesitating on landing, Ranma ran on into the school, leaving Kuno unconscious.

Shampoo and Akane looked at each other and at Kuno before simply shrugging and following Ranma inside.

XXXXX

As with the day before, the remainder of the day passed without further incident. Despite subtle prying on Akane's part, neither Ranma nor Shampoo had revealed the issue of the previous day. That, and Shampoo's little outburst in the morning fight was still playing on Akane's mind as she worked at the Nekohanten that evening. It was not long before Soon Li dragged a recounting of the incident out of her.

"Destroyed the entire road, did she?" Soon Li asked as she washed some dishes.

"Well, I wouldn't say destroyed..." Akane replied evasively, trying to think of some way to spin the whole affair but failing. "They've had it coming a long time," she quickly added in desperation.

Soon Li chuckled. "Yes, I'm surprised this hasn't happened earlier to be honest. Good thing Nabiki set aside money for miscellaneous public repairs. Regardless, I'll have to have a little discussion with her when I get home. Destroying public property is not to be encouraged. That goes for you too."

Akane reluctantly nodded.

"Is there something else?"

Akane hesitated, but knew there was little point in dodging the topic. She and Shampoo had long ago learned it was pointless to try and hide things from Soon Li. "Oh... it's just... Ranma..."

"Hmh?" Soon Li said, giving Akane a curious look.

"It's probably nothing," Akane quickly replied. "Last night he came home with Shampoo, and since then he's been acting a bit weird... not that kind of weird... I mean... um..."

Soon Li once more chuckled. "If you're concerned, why don't you ask him about it, or Shampoo?"

"I... don't want to pry," Akane replied, but Soon Li gave her a look back to made it clear she was not convinced that was the issue. Finally though, Soon Li shrugged, dismissing any further inquiry on the matter. 'It's not like I care,' Akane lied to herself as she returned to work.

XXXXX

At the Tendo dojo, Shampoo was completing a kata when Nabiki entered and snapped a picture with her camera. Shampoo looked at her suspiciously. "What you doing?"

"Nothing. Just go about your work. Forget I'm here," Nabiki replied, snapping another picture.

Shampoo briefly attempted to ignore the interruption as she continued her practice, but after two more pictures, she stopped completely. "What you upto, Nabiki?" she asked in accusation.

"Moi? Do you always suspect me of some scam, Shampoo?" Nabiki asked in reply, in mock hurt.

"Yes, cause usually are," Shampoo answered, causing Nabiki to simply smile and snap one last picture.

"Well I'm done anyway. I'll seeya Shampoo," Nabiki said and waved her goodbye as she departed.

Shampoo frowned as she considered what to do. After a minute, she nodded to herself and left the dojo. A quick jump to the rooftop and a survey of the surroundings and she caught sight of Nabiki walking down the street. It was a simple matter for Shampoo follow her to her destination unnoticed, but such was not very revealing to her intents.

Nabiki had come to a photo shop, and after a short time inside, had exited with a smile. "Well, tomorrow I should be ahead by a few yen," she commented to herself as she walked off. Shampoo appeared from the crowd nearby, looking at the photo shop in consideration, before heading off herself.

XXXXX

That night, Shampoo returned to her shared room with Akane and crashed face first into her bed. Akane, sitting at the desk, finishing some homework, looked over sympathetically.

"**Got the lecture I take it?**" Akane asked sympathetically. "**Sorry about that.**"

Shampoo rolled over enough to nod to Akane. "**She would have found out eventually. Besides, she let me off pretty easy, actually,**" Shampoo said before sitting up. "**Was Nabiki taking pictures of you today Akane?**"

Akane paused to think, then nodded. "**Yes, she came over to the Nekohanten earlier and was taking some pictures, why?**"

"**She was taking pictures of me too,**" Shampoo noted. "**Is something special happening tomorrow?**"

Akane thought for a moment, "**Actually yeah. Kuno invited Nabiki to meet him at some cafe. You think she's upto something?**"

"**When isn't she?**"

Akane smiled in defeat. "**True.**"

"**Where's Ranma?**" Shampoo asked.

"**He went to bed early. He was totally exhausted. Guess he wasn't kidding when he said he didn't get much sleep.**"

Shampoo looked off at the door, mumbling to herself, "**I know the feeling.**"

"Huh?" Akane asked, only partly catching what was said.

"**Nothing,**" Shampoo quickly dismissed, laying back down.

Akane made no further effort to quiz Shampoo on the topic. It was unnecessary anyway. She knew well the nightmares that often plagued Shampoo in her youth regarding her curse. 'I think I'm starting to get it,' she thought as she returned to her homework.

XXXXX

The next day Nabiki came to the cafe Fuoimari where Kuno was already waiting at a corner table, with him a small doll. Shampoo, who was once more shadowing her adoptive sister, sneaked in a few seconds later and discreetly took a seat a short distance away. From there she observed as Nabiki sat down with Kuno and started into a bowl of food set before her and the two began to speak. It was not long before what she was hearing began to sour Shampoo's mood.

As if sensing that they were being observed, Nabiki and Kuno did not stay at the cafe long, and departed for another nearby restaurant. Shampoo, however, steadfastly maintained her pursuit undetected through this change, and two more like it. Finally they ended up at a coffee shop, and by this point, after all that she had heard, Shampoo was having a hard time containing herself.

Nabiki put down 5 photos of Shampoo doing her workout at the dojo. "One thou-" she began to announce, but Kuno cut her off by dropping a five thousand yen bill into Nabiki's hand, and quickly seized the pictures.

"Magnificent! Such skill! Such dexterity!" Kuno gushed as he went through the photos.

"I'll even throw in a bonus. What do you say if I tell you how to deliver the dolly to your pigtailed cutee."

"You have my attention," Kuno said, looking intently at Nabiki.

"Here's the thing, the fastest way to get your dolly to the pigtailed girl is to give it to Ranma," Nabiki explained, putting Kuno into momentary shock.

"But how could he help me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Trust me on this one, okay?" Nabiki replied with a smile.

Kuno considered, obviously disliking the idea of dealing with Ranma, but finally pulled out a pad and ink to write a letter. Once finished he handed the letter to Nabiki. "Here, give this to Ranma."

"Hey, what am I, the mail service?" Nabiki said and quickly found another 2000 yen in her possession. "Okay Kuno baby, you convinced me." Kuno soon departed and Nabiki couldn't help but laugh. "Easiest 17,000 yen I've ever made."

"NABIKI!" Shampoo said suddenly, having sneaked up directly behind Nabiki's seat. Nabiki started at the sudden exclamation and spun around to see Shampoo.

"Oh, hi Shampoo. So what brings you here?" she greeted, betraying just a little nervousness at the unexpected encounter.

"Shampoo follow you. Why you sell photos to Kuno again?" Shampoo asked.

"I'm just trying to make a little cash," Nabiki dismissively explained, but Shampoo was unimpressed.

"Why you always have to do this?" Shampoo growled out.

"It's not like he's dangerous. If I part him of some of some of his free cash, what's the-" Nabiki started to explain, but Shampoo snorted.

"Bad enough you do to us, but you should no do that to Ranma."

"It's just a little joke. I'm mean come on, you got to admit it's kind of funny," Nabiki said with a smile, but Shampoo's expression only hardened.

"You would no think so if it you," Shampoo retorted and walked out without another word.

"Well, aren't you the selfless one. Hmmm," Nabiki mumbled as she watched her adoptive sister leave. "I got a feeling I'm going to be in for a lecture when I get home," Nabiki moaned but quickly cheered. "Oh well, at least I made some money."

XXXXX

Sometime later, Shampoo was wandering the streets, considering what to do. Although ratting out Nabiki to Soon Li would definitely result in something, it wouldn't address the main problem. Kuno was a pesky nuisance at the best of times, and unfortunately was very persistent once he got something into his head.

As Shampoo was pondering this, she caught sight of the boy in question, standing by the corner of a nearby building, waiting. In his hands he held the doll from earlier and watched his surroundings intently. It did not take him long to spot Shampoo.

"Shampoo, you come to me at last," he proclaimed with open arms.

Shampoo briefly considered simply leaving, but then a new thought hit her. Reluctantly she approached. "We speak Kuno, nothing more."

"If you wish to disguise your true affections in conversation I will oblige. So, what shall we speak of?" Kuno replied.

"Pigtailed girl, you leave her alone!" Shampoo ordered, but Kuno seemed unmoved.

"And why should I want to do that?" Kuno asked.

Unnoticed to the pair, Ranma came on this scene, having earlier received Kuno's letter from Nabiki. He stopped just short of being seen and listened.

"Just leave pigtailed girl alone!" Shampoo once more ordered, but as before, Kuno was untouched.

"I could not possibly do such a thing to my goddess," he said with a bowed head as if the very notion was painful.

Shampoo sighed in defeat. She had expected no better, but had hoped. Briefly she considered the direct approach, namely a good sound beating. Sadly, unlike most human beings, Kuno would take such as encouragement. I was time for plan B. "What if Shampoo do something for you?" she reluctantly suggested.

This peaked Kuno's interest. "Like what, pray-tell?"

Shampoo hesitated. There was probably only one bargaining chip she had, and she was loathe to use it. Still, contemplating Ranma's probable feelings on the matter caused her to respond, "Maybe, maybe Shampoo go on date-"

"Hey Kuno, what did you want me for?" Ranma suddenly cut in to say, coming into view.

Both Shampoo and Kuno turned to face Ranma in surprise. "You'll address me as upperclassmen," Kuno demanded.

"Yeah, whatever. What do you want already?" Ranma replied.

"This," Kuno answered, tossing the doll he was carrying to Ranma.

Ranma caught the doll and looked at it in confusion. "What's this?"

"It's a cute little dolly," Kuno answered evenly.

"I know that you idiot! What's it for?" Ranma shot back.

Kuno looked away in annoyance. "Quoth Nabiki Tendo, the fastest way to get your dolly to the pigtailed girl is to give it to Ranma." Turning back to Ranma, Kuno demanded, "Tell me, what is your relationship to the pigtailed girl?"

Ranma shook his head and tossed the doll back to Kuno. "Aww, forget about her. If I have any say in the matter she'll never appear before you ever again."

"What did you say?" Kuno asked in outrage.

"I said, if I have any say in the matter she'll never appear before you ever again," Ranma repeated.

"And why is that?" Kuno asked in further anger.

"'Cause-" Ranma started to say but Shampoo intervened.

From her point of view, it had become obvious that Ranma was just trying to provoke Kuno. Deciding that would solve nothing, Shampoo moved to plan C.

"Kuno you so stupid! Shampoo show you why!" Shampoo said, and dashed off. Both Kuno and Ranma were surprised enough by this to take no further action until she return a moment later with a bucket and kettle.

"Ahh, Shampoo, what are you doing?" Ranma asked nervously.

"It only way, Ranma," Shampoo said, then turned to Kuno. "Watch closely now."

Ranma nervously considered withdrawing, but never got to fully solidify that plan of action before Shampoo splashed him with the bucket of water.

"WHAT? What magic is this?" Kuno exclaimed as he now beheld the female Ranma.

"See Kuno, pigtail girl and Ranma same person," Shampoo explained, now pouring the contents of the kettle over Ranma, transforming her back.

A moment passed in silence as Kuno looked in shock at Ranma. Finally, he broke his stupor to take the bucket and kettle, using the remaining water in both to once more cycle Ranma between his female and male forms. Done, Kuno stood back, at a loss for words.

Ranma sighed. "Alright Kuno, you convinced now?"

Kuno blinked. "I would never have guessed," he said after several seconds. "Now I understand what Nabiki meant." Ranma once more sighed, this time in relief. "What cunning you have to disguise yourself as a boy!"

Any relief Ranma felt completely melted away at hearing this. "WHAT? Kuno, how stupid can you be?" Ranma yelled in outrage.

Kuno was unaffected by Ranma's anger. "Of course, now everything is clear to me. So your engagement to Akane and Shampoo is a secret stratagem to protect not only your own disguise but to protect the honor of my other two loves as well! How ingenious! What a cleaver act you have put on!"

"You can't be serious!" Ranma exclaimed, but the look on Tatewaki's face betrayed no jest.

Even Shampoo was in shock at this, commenting, "I no think he _this_ stupid!"

"I'm a guy you jerk! A guy!" Ranma tried desperately to make clear but Kuno only nodded in mock acceptance.

"Ahh, of course! Worry not pigtail one, I shall not reveal your secret," the kendoist said only further irritating Ranma.

In a burst of frustration, Ranma pulled on his hair and screamed. "AHHHH! I can't take this anymore! If I have to clobber you to get rid of you then let's go!"

Kuno looked at Ranma in consideration. "So you challenge me. Very well, but would you not prefer to take your true form?"

"This _is_ my true form you dimwit! Now shut up and fight!" Ranma yelled, taking up a fighting posture.

"There is no need to put on this act for me, but if you insist," Kuno replied, drawing his bokken, as Shampoo withdrew several paces to avoid the coming battle. Kuno was the first to strike, thrusting towards Ranma, but he easily dodged. "I shall defeat you and then you shall be mine!"

All this commotion had brought yet another observer to the scene, namely Akane. She came just in time to see the beginnings of the fight, although she had caught much of the conversation as she had approached. Now hiding behind a nearby stone obelisk, she peered out to watch the fight, not able to help feeling a little concerned. The feeling was echoed by Shampoo.

"So, if I beat you, you'll leave me alone then," Ranma stated as he dodged a slashing strike from Kuno and kicked him in the chest. However, Kuno blocked the attack with his blade, and pushed back, forcing Ranma to flip backwards. Once recovered, Ranma once more went on the attack, rushing forward and barraging Kuno with kicks and punches. To his surprise, Kuno blocked each one.

"A noble effort, but this fight is mine," Kuno proclaimed and stabbed at Ranma, but he managed to rolls backwards with the blow, avoiding it.

Ranma continued to roll back, nearly running into Akane, but she stepped to the side, prompting him to flip back to his feet next to her.

"Hello, Akane," he greeted.

"Ranma, you should know that Kuno been fighting us for sometime now. It's made him really tough to beat when he's serious," Akane cautioned looking back at the Kendoist who was simply holding his ground, preparing for the next assault.

Ranma had to reluctantly nod in agreement with that. "Yeah, thanks."

"Just pay attention," Akane said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he dismissively responded. 'She's right though, he's faster than I expected.' Determined not to lose, Ranma jumped into the air and landed in front of Kuno.

"Now the game ends," Kuno announced, and before Ranma had a chance to initiate his own attack, Kuno began a blur of stabs.

Caught off guard by the shear speed of the blows, several slipped through as Ranma desperately dodged. As this went on for several seconds, the obelisk which Akane had been hiding behind earlier began to crack and finally began to shatter from the force of the air passing from Kuno's blade. Akane only gave this the briefest of looks before refocusing on the fight.

'Man he's fast! I'm totally defensive here,' Ranma thought as yet more blows slipped by. 'Only got one chance.' Ranma suddenly leaped backwards and kicked out at the obelisk. Another flip and he landed behind it and waited as Kuno advanced.

"I have you!" Kuno proclaimed and charged forward recklessly. Ranma merely smiled, and tapped the obelisk just as Kuno got into range. This was all it took for the final structural strength of the stone to fail, and to came crashing straight down onto Kuno. A great cloud of dust was raised as it hit the ground, knocking Kuno unconscious and scattering his belongings likewise into the air.

Akane approached the fallen obelisk. "Not bad," she said to Ranma before noticing a picture floating down and grabbing it from the air. "What the... Hey these are... Nabiki is going to get it."

Ranma likewise grabbed a few from the air and covered his face in mortification once he got a better look. Neither noticed Shampoo silently walk off.

XXXXX

As the sun began to set, its red light danced over the water of the canal. This scene continued for a moment until a stone splashed into the water sending a ripple of yellowish red in all directions. The ripple radiated out, finally passing below the bridge where Shampoo sat, grabbing up another stone and contemplating. She took little notice of Ranma's approach as he came up and sat next to her.

"What you want?" she asked in melancholy.

"You didn't need to do that," Ranma replied.

"Do what?

"Try to get Kuno to stop chasing me. I overheard the whole thing. I'll handle it."

Shampoo shook her head, not in denial, but rather disappointment. "Shampoo just no want you to have same problem as her. Shampoo know what it like to have curse," she said, then tossed the stone she was holding. "Instead, Shampoo make worse."

Ranma shook his head in remembrance of the incident. "No one can expect that level of idiocy," he joked, but Shampoo merely sighed and got up to leave. Ranma quickly joined her. "I suppose... I should thank you. At least you tried."

"Hmm," Shampoo mumbled as they continue on their way.

XXXXX

The next day Shampoo and Akane were facing off in the dojo.

"Ready?" Akane asked.

"Ready," Shampoo confirmed.

In an instant Akane let loose a wind punch. Shampoo jumped back and to the side to avoid it, then jumped once again, this time into the wall. Using the wall as a spring board she attacked in a blur of midair kicks. Akane dove under the assault and turned once more to face Shampoo.

"**So, what do you think of Ranma?**" Akane asked as the two examined each other for openings

"**He's okay,**" the Amazon replied.

"**Yeah, I guess so. But he still can be a real jerk.**" Akane kicked out, sending another wave of wind at Shampoo, but as before she dodged, this time pressing forward to strike with a punch. Akane bent with this while retreating, reopening the gap.

"**So maybe this engagement isn't so bad after all?**" Shampoo suggested as they circled each other.

"**I didn't say that. I don't want to be married to that twisted weirdo!**" Akane retorted

"**Just cause he's half girl doesn't mean he's weird Akane. After all, I'm half cat.**"

Akane winced a little. "**Yeah, well... that's different.**"

"**How?**" Shampoo asked just as Akane jumped in for an attempted flying kick. Shampoo once more dodged away.

"**Well... ummm... it just is,**" Akane said as she reset.

Shampoo smiled and replied sarcastically, "**Very convincing.**"

"**Look, I'm not in love with the guy if that's what you're getting at. Besides, what about you?**" Akane asked.

"**What about me?**" Shampoo asked as she rushed in and attacked with a blur of punches. Akane defused these either with bends or dodges and the two once more broke apart.

"**You seem a little fond of him,**" Akane accused with a smile.

"**No I'm not! I just feel sorry for him, that's all,**" Shampoo denied.

"**Really?**"

"**Yeah really!**"

Akane looked sceptical for an instant before attacking with a series of kicks. Once more Shampoo dodged and attacked with her own series which was likewise dodged. "**So, what if he chooses you?**" Akane asked as they separated.

"**Then we get married I guess.**"

Akane was surprised by this. "**You'd just go along with it? No arguments?**"

Shampoo nodded. "**Yeah. I mean, he's nice enough and kind of strong and I guess he's sort of handsome too. I could get to like him.**"

This made Akane pause in consideration. 'I suppose he is kind of handsome, and has few nice points...' she thought, zoning out of the fight, and breaking into a small smile.

"Akane! Hey!" Shampoo called out, regaining Akane's attention.

"Huh? Oh," Akane fumbled, quickly covering up her smile. "**Well, I wouldn't go along with it.**"

"**Really?**" Shampoo asked suspiciously.

"**Yeah,**" Akane insisted, but Shampoo seemed unconvinced. "**I just wish he'd make his decision already and not keep both of us hanging like this,**" she continued.

To that, Shampoo could only nod in agreement before their match continued.

XXXXX

About the same time, sitting at in the common room, watching a television program and snacking on some potato chips, was Ranma. What, if anything, he was pondering would not be known as Genma walked in to interrupt.

"Well boy?" Genma asked, standing over his son.

"Well what?" Ranma asked back with a total lack of interest.

Genma frowned. "Which is it going to be? Akane or Shampoo?"

Ranma rolled his eyes, and looked up at his father. "Give me a break, I haven't decided yet."

"When are you going to decide then?" Genma pushed, but Ranma returned to the television.

"When I'm good and ready, okay?" he replied in annoyance.

"You can't delay the decision forever," Genma cautioned.

'I'll delay it as long as I can,' Ranma thought, but sensed his father was not going to drop the issue so easily. Giving up on getting any entertainment here, he tossed aside the chips, got up and walked out before Genma pushed the issue any further.

As Ranma departed, Soun entered, giving Ranma a curious look. He then turned to Genma, and the two sat at the table. "Well Saotome?" Soun asked.

"He's still undecided," Genma answer with a shake of his head.

"At the rate they're going he may never make a decision," Soun observed with a frown. Genma nodded his agreement just as Soon Li walked by.

"I wouldn't worry you two. He'll make his decision when he's ready," she reassured the two men before continuing on her way.

XXXXX

A little later, the sun setting in the distance, Ranma was walking along a fence thinking. 'How am I supposed to make a decision between those two anyway? I got a choice between a violent tomboy and nutzy Amazon who changes into my worst nightmare.' As he thought this he came to a fresh realization, he was actually considering it.

Before he could get much further with that line of thought, up ahead he spotted Akane approaching. Akane likewise noticed Ranma and the two shared a few seconds just looking at each other before speaking. "What are you up to?" Ranma was the first to ask.

"I'm just getting some stuff for Kasumi," Akane answered and began to walk on but stopped after only two steps. "Hey, you want to come?" she asked, shying away from looking at him.

"Hmph," was Ranma's reply. Taking this as a rejection, Akane went quickly from disappointment to anger and walked on without another word. However, only seconds later Ranma came up unexpectedly beside her. "Changed my mind, might as well do something constructive while I'm out here."

Akane could not help but smile just slightly, but she quickly hid it.

"Sorry about Kuno. Even I didn't think he could be that think headed."

"Huh? Oh, him, don't worry about it," Ranma said dismissivesly.

"You know, next time you might be better off fighting him as a girl," Akane suggested.

"Why?"

"I don't think he fights as hard against girls," Akane answered.

Ranma shook his head. "I don't need any stupid tricks to beat him."

"Just a suggestion," Akane said before the pair fell into silence as they continued walking. Finally, Akane spoke up. "Ahhh, Ranma, about the... engagement..."

"Huh? What about it?"

"Well, I wanted to know if... if you were close to a choice," Akane said, trying her best to keep her expression neutral.

"Are you kidding me? I don't even plan on making a choice," Ranma quickly responded.

"But-"

"I thought you didn't like this engagement?"

Put on the spot, Akane hesitated. "Well..."

"Well it certainly wasn't my idea! I don't want to get married, especially..." Ranma started to say, but caught himself.

"Especially what?" Akane asked, irritation slipping into her voice. Ranma, knowing he had already said too much, remained nervously silent in a vain hope at dodging the issue. Unfortunately for him, Akane was not so willing to drop it. "Oh I get it, especially not to a girl like me, right?" she accused.

"I didn't say that!" Ranma feebly defended.

"But you were going to!" Akane replied angrily.

"Well, yeah, but-" Ranma responded, immediately wishing he had not.

"You're such a jerk!" Akane stopped and loudly declared.

Ranma likewise stopped and turned to confront her. "What did you say?"

"I said you are a jerk!" she repeated.

"Well you're uncute!" Ranma shot back.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"You just keep talking like that Ranma and you'll regret it," Akane threatened.

"Really?" Ranma said with a smug chuckle.

"Yeah really!"

"Hmm, who'd be afraid of a tomboy like you anyway?" he said and started walking away.

Akane fumed for just a few seconds before declaring, "I warned you." Ranma turned just in time to see Akane charging him.

XXXXX

A short time later Akane dropped a much contorted Ranma onto a bed at the medical clinic. The doctor, one Ono Tofu, was quick to begin an examination.

"This is horrible! The pain he must be in! Who did this to him?" the doctor asked.

"I did," Akane answered without hesitation. "He was being a jerk, as usual, and deserved it!"

"You're... so... un...cute!" Ranma managed to reply gaining a glare from Akane.

Dr. Tofu nodded. "I should have known, definitely Akane's handiwork," he said with joking smile, and without further prompting set to work. Twisting Ranma various joints, Ranma could not hold back cries of pain as cracking issued from the movements. "So you must be Ranma. I heard you're going to be marrying Akane or Shampoo."

"If he keeps acting like such a moron he won't get to!" Akane declared.

"Give it time, I'm sure you'll really get to like each other," Tofu said as he continued his work.

"Not... Ow... bloody... Eeh... likely... Ouch!" Ranma said between twists. Finally, the doctor finished, and Ranma angrily sat up. "That hurt you know!" he accused, puzzling the doctor.

"Really? That's very strange, where does it hurt?" Tofu asked.

Ranma was about to reflexively reply when he noticed that indeed all the pain was gone. "Hey, I'm cured," he said in surprise.

"Well of course, Dr. Tofu is the best doctor around," Akane said with smile.

"Why, thank you, Akane," Tofu replied as he headed off to clean up.

As he left earshot, Akane leaned over to Ranma and whispered, "Just don't get too close when Kasumi's around."

"Why?" Ranma asked back in a whisper.

"Just trust me on this. You'd regret it," Akane concluded and looked up at the clock. "Oh no, we're late. You dope, you made me forget about getting that stuff for Kasumi. We got to get going."

At hearing this, Dr. Tofu's glasses fogged over and he looked around himself with a silly smile on his face. "Ah, Kasumi, where?" Tofu asked.

"Ah, Dr. Tofu, Kasumi's not here," Akane said with a whince.

"Oh," Tofu said and broke into a bout of nervous laughter, "how silly of me. Here, let me show you two out." No sooner did he say this than he ran directly into the door frame. "Door seems to get smaller every day," he observed, once more laughing nervously, and removed his glasses to clean them.

Ranma nodded in understanding, and whispered to Akane, "I see what you mean."

"You two should get going. Don't want to keep you waiting," the doctor directed as he put his glasses back on. Obediently, the pair let him lead them to the door to the clinic.

"Good night, Dr. Tofu," Akane said as started walking off.

"Good night," Tofu echoed, but as Ranma began to follow, he called after him. "Ah, Ranma, wait a minute."

Ranma pulled up short, while Akane continued to the street and waited.

"So, things not going so well with the your potential fiancees?" Tofu asked.

"You could say that. It's not like I wanted this engagement," Ranma replied.

"Wouldn't you prefer to at least be on friendly terms with them?" Tofu suggested.

"I guess."

The doctor nodded. "Well then, perhaps if you just put a little more effort into it. Try being nice to them."

"I am nice, Akane just jumps on me the first chance she gets," Ranma said in denial.

"Hmm, that's not like her. She's usually quite sweet tempered and kind."

"Really? Since when?" Ranma asked in disbelief.

"Perhaps you just haven't seen that side of her yet. And Shampoo?"

Ranma shook his head. "She's nearly as bad. She's always so distant. Every time I start getting somewhere with her she always takes off or tells me to go away."

"Well, she's still quite attached to her Amazon laws and customs you know. She's probably still unsure of this engagement. Given the time, I'm sure she'll come around."

Ranma looked uncertain. "Well..."

Dr. Tofu pushed Ranma on his way. "I'm sure you'll understand soon enough."

XXXXX

Sometime later Akane arrived home with a now female Ranma on her back, and a bag of groceries in hand. The pair entered the common room where Akane finally dropped off Ranma.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?" Akane said, but Ranma just muttered in reply. "Oh Ranma, you're such a baby! So I had to carry you, big deal!"

"Yeah, well, I'm just glad nobody saw us," Ranma replied just as Shampoo came in.

"Where you been, Akane?" Shampoo asked.

"This twerp had to side track me," Akane said.

"You're the one who hit me!" Ranma shot back.

"Well you asked for it," Akane retorted, and walked off in a huff.

Shampoo watched her leave, then turned to Ranma. "So what wrong with you?"

"Dr. Tofu did something to my legs. They gave out on me after I left his clinic. I can't even walk, Akane had... to carry me," Ranma reluctantly admitted.

Shampoo smirked and sat down next to Ranma. "Let Shampoo see." After a short examination of Ranma's back, Shampoo sat up straight and nodded. "Shampoo have idea."

Ranma watched curiously as Shampoo clapped her hands together and started rubbing them together. The rubbing quickly accelerated till nothing but a blur could be seen and sparks started to fly. Just as Ranma was having her doubts about this approach, Shampoo suddenly slapped Ranma on the back. Instantly, Ranma jumped involuntarily into the air with a yelp of pain. Normal reflexes kicked in at that point, and she landed on her feet, turning angrily on Shampoo.

"That hurt!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Yes, but work. See, you stand," Shampoo pointed out.

Ranma blinked and looked down at herself as Shampoo rose to her feet as well. "Hey, my legs are working again. How'd you do that?" Ranma asked, but Shampoo only smiled and left. Testing her legs again, Ranma thought, 'Hmmm. I don't know. I just don't know. Why can't I seem to figure 'em out?'

XXXXX

The next morning, as was routine, Shampoo and Akane were again preparing for their race. In the midst of their stretches, Ranma came from the house. After several moments of his hovering nearby, Akane finally asked, "What do you want Ranma?"

"Actually, I wanted to see what this race of yours is like," he responded, looking away as if trying to downplay the remark.

"Really?" Akane asked, and shared a look with Shampoo. Then a thought hit her. "Then why don't you participate?"

"Why bother, I'd win for sure," Ranma answered confidently.

"You think so huh? Well prove it," Akane taunted. Ranma hesitated. "Of course if-"

"Alright!" Ranma cut in to say.

Akane looked once more back at Shampoo with a devious smile which the other girl returned.

At about that moment, Soon Li came from the house, and nodded in greeting to Ranma. "Morning."

"He's going to race with us, Soon Li," Akane noted.

"I see," Soon Li, and confirmed this with a look at Ranma. "Okay then, you will need to know the rules. The race is from here to the Tenchi's Meats at the market and back. Any way you get there is fine but you must be on foot. And no interfering with the others. This is a race, not a battle. Understood?"

"I got it," Ranma confirmed.

"Are you all ready to go then?" Soon Li asked, and all three set themselves to start. "Okay. Ready... set... go!"

With that, all three tore off out of the yard and into the street. Ranma took an early lead, but not with ease, with Shampoo just a second or two behind and Akane a second behind her. The pace was demanding to be sure, but as Ranma gauged the situation, he would soon have a commanding lead.

Up ahead, the street came to an end at an apartment block. Ranma quickly diverted down the street to round it. He was about half way up the street when he noticed that while Shampoo was following him, Akane was not. Instead she headed straight at the building. 'She's going to go through-' Ranma thought at first, but had his thought derailed when she planted herself and rocketed into the sky.

"What the-?" Ranma gawked as Akane flew into the air. Ranma was not unfamiliar with some amazing jumps himself, but at nearly 10 stories high, the apartment was well above his maximum. Akane took the jump with ease and went out of sight over the top of the building.

With Ranma's pace slowed slightly to watch Akane, Shampoo passed him by. "Best way is straight line, Ranma."

"Hey!" he exclaimed as he refocused on the race.

Pushing himself, Ranma soon regained his lead. They rounded the apartment to see Akane float down from above, crossing the canal as she did, and continue on her way, now with a good minute lead on them if Ranma were to judge. 'Damn it,' Ranma thought as he diverted for the bridge to cross the canal. However, he was once more slowed as he noticed Shampoo was continuing on straight.

"Hey, that's cold water you know!" He shouted after her in confusion.

"Yeah, so?" she replied over her shoulder, smiled, then suddenly sped up. Turning into a blur of motion, Shampoo ran straight for the water, and directly over it. On the other side she continued her blurred pace until she had nearly made up the gap with Akane.

By this point, Ranma's own pace had slowed to a jog as he realized the futility of the struggle. "This was a big mistake!" he said aloud, steeled himself, and once more began to run.

XXXXX

Not long after, but long enough, Ranma arrived at the Tendos, breathing heavily. He already knew what to expect as the two girls had passed him by several minutes earlier on their return trip. However, seeing both girls already into breakfast and fully recovered was even more demoralizing. Both gave him a look of amusement when he entered.

"What took so long, Ranma?" Shampoo taunted.

"Yeah, I thought you said you were going to win," Akane continued before the pair broke into shared laughter at his expense.

"Oh be quiet," Ranma said as he continued to catch his breath. "You tricked me."

Shampoo and Akane calmed themselves, and Akane looked over at him. "You were just being arrogant, as usually," she said in dismissal of his accusation. "And seeing as how you lost..." she said after a few seconds.

Ranma took in several more breaths before reluctantly nodding. "Fine, I'll fight those stupid jerks."

"Good, we can both have a rest for once," Akane said with a shared nod with Shampoo.

XXXXX

Ranma was walking behind Shampoo and Akane on their way to school along the canal, his ego still smarting from the loss of the morning. The two girls paid little heed to this though, and were talking with each other in Mandarin, every so often sharing a laugh. Imagination getting the better of him, Ranma finally said, "Stop that!"

"Stop what?" Akane asked in honest confusion.

"Talking about me like that," Ranma replied with a frown.

"Like what?" Akane asked, still confused.

"Well, you know..."

"No I don't."

"You know perfectly well I can't understand Chinese," Ranma finally said, gaining a blink of surprise from Akane and Shampoo.

Akane turned away. "Yeah, why do you think we talk in it? We don't want jerks like you listening in."

"You're so uncute!" Ranma shot back.

"And you're such a pervert!"

"Stubborn girl!"

"Stupid boy!"

"Tomboy!"

"Excuse me?"

"There's no excuse for you."

Akane fumed. "What? Why you-" She growled, spun around and literally blew Ranma off the street and into the water. "Care to repeat that, Ranma?" she yelled at the now female Ranma in the water below.

Ranma quickly recovered and jumped back to the street and next to Akane. "Oooo, I hit a nerve."

"You're really asking for it, Ranma!" Akane threatened, but finally Shampoo intervened.

"You two finish?" She asked in annoyance, giving both disapproving looks. Akane and Ranma gave each other one last sour look before ending the squabble and continuing on their way.

"You want change back Ranma?" Shampoo asked, but Ranma shook her head.

"I'll change back when we get there," Ranma replied.

They continued on until finally the school came into view. However, although the boys were gathered, they made no move to meet them. "I wonder what's up," Ranma thought aloud, gaining shrugs from his companions as they continued their approach.

Once at the school entrance, one of the boys stepped forward. "Akane, Shampoo, we all had a meeting and..." he said, but hesitated. As he did, several of the boys started crying. "And we've admitted our defeat and shall accept your engagement to Ranma," the boy concluded, and with that the remainder of the boys also broke into tears.

The threesome watched this scene in shock for several seconds before Akane asked, "So what brought this on all of a sudden?"

In answer to her question, Kuno approached, wrapped practically head to toe in bandages apparently as a result of his previous battle with Ranma. "Because Akane Tendo, I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, have been bested in combat."

"What are you babbling about? We always best you in combat," Akane pointed out.

"Yeah, but this isn't about you or Shampoo. You see, Upperclassmen Kuno was Furinkan High greatest champion," the boy from before further explained.

"He was also it's greatest pervert!" One of the other boys shouted out from the crowd.

"Who you calling a pervert?" Kuno shouted back.

"He was ranting something about Ranma being a girl," the boy added. "I think he took one too many hits to the head. Either way, Ranma apparently beat him fair and square, and he isn't that bad. We hope that who ever he chooses is happy."

Kuno, however, was of a different mind. Approaching Ranma, he stated, "Tatewaki Kuno shall never accept defeat. I shall be ready for our next match, pigtailed one."

"Oh yeah?" Ranma said in annoyance.

"You may have defeated me once, but Tatewaki Kuno will never fall! The next time we meet in battle, I shall be the victor and you shall be mine," he promised, and an instant later was out cold, Ranma having punched him out.

"He just doesn't gives up!" Ranma moaned.

Once more the representative of the boys spoke, "Well anyway, we've said our peace. Give Ranma our best when you see him."

Ranma brightened at this. "No problem pal," she said and the boys collected themselves and headed off into the school.

Shampoo and Akane shared surprised looks, but finally accepting what they had just observed. "Come on, Ranma," Akane said and headed off to the school as well. Ranma soon followed. Shampoo, however, paused a moment before Kuno, then stepped on him, and on her way.

XXXXX

The school day half done, Ranma's class was currently in their phy-ed block. The girls were having a softball game, while the boys were involved in some track and field. At that moment, Shampoo was acting as pitcher for her team, examining the bases, before unleashing a lightning fast ball that the poor batter had no hope of reacting too. Even the catcher slid back from the impact of the ball on her glove, and she gave a noticeable wince.

"Strike three! You're out," the umpire declared.

"Alright Shampoo, just one more out to go!" Akane cheered from the sidelines.

Ranma, back to his male self and currently on break, watched the display along with a few of his fellow classmates, Hiroshi and Daisuke. Ranma had met the two on his second day at the school and had formed a loose friendship by this point with the pair, although he had his suspicions that a great deal of their interest in him was in fact indirect interest in Akane, Shampoo and his own female side.

"So Ranma, have you done it yet?" Hiroshi suddenly asked.

"What?" Ranma asked, missing the implication.

"You know," Daisuke added, nudging Ranma in the ribs.

Ranma paled and quickly shook his head as he realized their meaning. "No way!"

"You mean to tell us you got the two best looking girls in school all to yourself and you haven't done a thing with them? Come on!" Hiroshi said in surprise.

"You got to have at least, you know, kissed one of them," Daisuke suggested.

"Not a chance!" Ranma denied, but could not help but blush.

Hiroshi sighed in disgust. "What are you, a wimp?"

"I am not!" Ranma argued.

"Well then, why haven't you?" Daisuke asked.

Ranma hesitated, before answering, "Look, I didn't ask for this stupid engagement thing!"

"Man, you're crazy, Ranma. How could you not like them? I would give my left leg for a date with Akane." Hiroshi said with a dreamy look.

"Akane, what about Shampoo? She's at least worth a leg and an arm." Daisuke argued.

"I wouldn't talk like that if I were you. She just may decide to take you up on the deal," Ranma half joked, but neither boy let him off.

"Well Saotome, if you every want to switch with me-" Hiroshi started.

"Or me, we're willing," Daisuke finished, just as Akane, now up to bat, knocked the incoming ball out of the park.

Ranma sighed. 'I don't know, maybe. But how am I ever going to decide between those two?' he asked himself in thought before once more sighing.

XXXXX

The school day over, Akane and Shampoo were at the Nekohanten, for a change sitting and watching as Ranma acted as waitress.

"**I think Kuno must have lost what little he had left of a brain,**" Akane commented.

"**I was always of the opinion that he never had one,**" Shampoo replied and the pair shared a laugh.

Ranma, however, took their topic of conversation to be something quite different. "Stop talking about me," she demanded.

"Who said we were talking about you?" Akane replied with an amused shake of her head.

"Then you weren't?" Ranma asked uncertainly.

"I didn't say that either," Akane answered with a teasing smile.

Ranma's eye twitched. "Why you... This is not fair! Why do I have to do this?"

"Because you lost the race and you didn't have to fight the boys," Akane explained.

"I am not a waitress!" Ranma complained, but Akane shrugged it off.

"You seem to be doing pretty good to me."

"Ahh, miss," a customer across the room called.

"I'll be there in a sec," Ranma replied in as calm and courteous a way as she could fake under the circumstance. Before heading over, she looked at the two girls and threatened, "You're going to pay for this."

The pair watched their would-be fiance walked off to serve the customer, and after a few seconds, once more shared a laugh.

%End Chapter 4

Quick edit note. I actually messed up in this chapter originally. I had Shampoo both taking on the boys at the school and working at the Nekohanten on the same day. Oops. So, had to fix that, fortunately wasn't important to the plot where she was at the time.


	6. Chapter 5

%Chapter 5

It was a nice day in Tokyo, the birds were singing, the sun was shining, and the sky was the clearest shade of blue. The only drawback to this beautiful sight was the two combatants facing off for a battle to the death. One was Ranma, the other was a teenage boy carrying a bamboo umbrella and wearing a black and yellow bandanna, known as Ryoga Hibiki. The two combatants stood at the centre of the Furinkan High soccer field with a large crowd gathered all around, including Shampoo, Akane and a group of their friends. What had brought everyone to this point was still a bit confused.

After the whole incident with Kuno, life in Nerima actually was becoming quite calm and peaceful. Although Kuno persisted in being a nuisance, his danger factor was not very high. With the morning battle with the boys over with, Akane and Shampoo were now trading days working at the Nekohanten. Meanwhile, Ranma took a run each morning, which he would vehemently insist was absolutely nothing to do with his loss to the girls.

That was the way of things until a few weeks ago when one Ryoga Hibiki arrived at Furinkan High intent on exacting revenge on Ranma. Despite an early assumption on Ranma's part that this was due to a missed duel over a disagreement the two had in junior high, Ryoga was of the belief that the issue was something far more serious. Unfortunately, they did not find out exactly what as he had disappeared shortly after, which Ranma explained was likely due to his unfathomably bad sense of direction.

They were all just on the verge of forgetting the whole incident when a challenge letter had arrived for Ranma to meet at the soccer field. Said challenge date had already passed, but Ryoga had finally shown up that morning and stubbornly sat in the soccer field awaiting Ranma's arrival.

Nabiki was making good use of the situation, at least as she would see it, waving tickets in the air and calling out for bets on the result of the fight. Shampoo watched with with a scowl, sitting next to Akane. "Must she always do that?" Shampoo asked Akane.

"I'm afraid so," Akane said, casting a glance at her sister before returning to watching the two boys face off. The two were currently talking, Ranma apparently trying to talk Ryoga out of a fight, but Ryoga was having nothing of it.

"Aren't you afraid Ranma will get hurt?" One of Akane's friends asked.

"Why would I care?" Akane said dismissively.

"What about you Shampoo?" the girl asked, but Shampoo responded merely with a unintelligible mumble.

The friend dropped the matter, but after a moment, Akane leaned in close to Shampoo. "**Actually, I am a bit worried. This guy seems like he's serious.**"

Shampoo nodded slightly. "**I wouldn't worry, this guy maybe strong but he doesn't seem too skilled. I'm sure even Ranma can handle him,**" she replied. After a second, she added, "**And if he can't, we certainly can.**" To that, Akane nodded.

"Fight!" Ryoga suddenly yelled, drawing his umbrella, and stabbed out at Ranma with it. Ranma, however, was prepared and easily dodged away. The follow up slash had much the same result, and this went on for several more seconds before Ranma jumped into the air and gained some distance.

"I wonder why Ryoga's so mad at Ranma anyway. What could he possible have done to make Ryoga want to kill him?" Akane thought aloud.

"Don't know," Shampoo replied with a shrug.

Ryoga continued to press his attack but had little to show for it. One particular slash Ranma leaped clear over Ryoga, flipping in mid air to face him. "Fine then, have it your way," Ranma said tiredly and set himself in an offensive stance.

Ryoga was unmoved, and continued his attack. "Take this you coward!" he shouted as he opened his umbrella and threw it like a spinning top at his opponent. Ranma was unimpressed, and easily side stepped the attack, being careful to keep track of the umbrella to ensure its trajectory would not suddenly shift. However, this brief moment with his attention shifted was Ryoga's true goal, and with a precision throw, he snagged Ranma's wrist.

Ranma tried to withdraw but stumbled, a quick jerk at his wrist. A quick inspection revealed what was holding him, a pair of handcuffs with a long steel cable between the two ends. Tracing the wire, he found Ryoga attaching it to his own wrist.

"These ought to prevent you from escaping me again, Ranma," Ryoga declared, serving only to anger Ranma.

"I didn't run away! You got yourself lost, you idiot!" Ranma shouted back.

"No more of your excuses!" Ryoga shot back and kicked out, but Ranma blocked the kick with his own, and sneered at his opponent.

"That's it! If you really-"

"Enough!" a sudden shout from the crowd interrupted, drawing both boys attention. Charging out, bokken drawn, Kuno quickly placed himself between the two boys, facing Ryoga.

"You there, none shall challenge Ranma but me!" Kuno declared, gaining a confused look from Ryoga.

"Who the hell are you?" Ryoga asked after a second.

Behind Kuno, Ranma groaned in a mix of annoyance and disgust. "Oh man Kuno, get lost!"

"Yeah, butt out!" Ryoga quickly added, but Kuno remain resolute.

"Fear not, my fair pig-tailed one. This lout must first defeat me if he wishes to date you!"

As one might expect from such a comment, both Ryoga and Ranma paused in utter disbelief, then each reacted in their own measure of disgust. "What the hell are you babbling about? Who is the pig-tailed one?" Ryoga asked, hoping he had simply misheard.

"Silence retch, I shall smite thee now!" Kuno said, and advanced on Ryoga for the attack. This, however, was not to be, as Ranma attacked from behind, launching Kuno into the stratosphere.

"That jerk, why can't he just leave me alone?" Ranma moaned as he watched Kuno disappear from sight.

"Was he... talking about you?" Ryoga asked.

Ranma shook with a mix of revulsion and anger at the suggestion. "Don't say that you moron!" Ranma shouted, reigniting Ryoga's anger.

"Shut up, Ranma!" the bandanna clan boy yelled back and once more went on the attack.

At the side of the battle, both girls where sharing mutual sympathetic shakes of their head at Ranma's blight. However, their attention shifted when a boy came up on the umbrella that had come to a rest on the grass nearby. Curious, he tried to lift it, but to everyone's surprise, he could not budge it.

"This thing weighs a ton!" he declared as he gave up.

The girls shared a quick glance at one another then headed over and tried themselves. Although more successful that the boy, neither could manage to truly lift it. "That kid carries this thing one handed! What's he work out with? One ton barbells!" Akane wondered aloud.

"If Ranma get hit..." Shampoo cautioned, quickly alarming Akane who turned back to the battle.

"Ranma! Watch out! Keep your distance from him!" Akane called out in warning.

Ranma paid the warning little mind, but the distraction was enough to let Ryoga graze Ranma's cheek. Ranma wiped away a trickle of blood then looked at Ryoga seriously. "That's it, no more Mr. Niceguy."

"Oh, now you get serious. Don't make me laugh!" Ryoga mocked, and once more punched out for Ranma's head. Ranma was ready, and slipped under the punch and quickly through Ryoga's legs. A quick pull on the wire, and Ryoga was pulled to the ground. For added insult, Ranma confidentially sat on his opponent's back.

"So Ryoga, what should I do with you now?" Ranma now mocked back.

"Curse you Saotome!" Ryoga cursed as he strained against his awkward position and Ranma's extra weight.

Akane frowned. "Stop playing around with him you idiot!" she mumbled to herself, but Shampoo overheard and gave her a brief glance.

Whatever Ranma's plan was, it was derailed when, showing off his enormous strength, Ryoga launched both himself and Ranma into the air, using just his one free hand. A quick exchange occurred in the air, and Ranma planted a kick driving Ryoga back down to the ground towards the girls and his umbrella. Ranma landed a few feet away and readied himself, but rather than stand and fight, Ryoga grabbed his umbrella and rushed for the fence with Ranma in pursuit.

"Where are they going now?" Akane asked as the boys jumped the fence and ran off.

"Ryoga seem like one who run now," Shampoo said with a disappointed shake of her head, but then paused. "Unless he running for other reason..."

The two shared a look of worry before Akane began to follow. "Come on," she said, and with a quick confirming nod, Shampoo followed. However, their short time contemplating their response was enough to lose sight of the boys. They shortly regained the trail, finding several students badly charred and laying scattered around several large holes in the ground.

"I think you were right," Akane said as she examined the carnage.

"They live, but where Ranma and Ryoga go?" Shampoo wondered aloud as the two looked about.

"Let's split up. They've got to be here somewhere," Akane suggested, and the two girls headed off in separate directions.

XXXXX

A short time later Shampoo was examining several odd, circular holes in a stone wall, and the stump of a cement telephone pole. She had clearly found the path of battle, but still, both boys remained elusive.

"Ryoga pick up telephone pole?" Shampoo openly wondered, feeling a growing sense of worry. 'He's much stronger than I gave him credit for,' she thought just as a shout caught her attention.

"Help! The zebras are escaping!"

'Zebras? The zoo,' Shampoo thought quickly, and dashed off. She arrived at the zoo just as a geyser of water shot up into the air. Shampoo closed to a safe distance, seeing the now female Ranma, who's shirt cut horizontally across the chest, facing off with a confused Ryoga, the handcuffs that joined them now severed.

"Just who did you think it was, you stupid jerk!" Ranma snapped at Ryoga.

Ryoga blinked several times in surprise as he tried to grasp the situation. Shampoo shook her head in mild amusement before pointing out the obvious, "Ranma, you stupid! You girl!"

"What?" Ranma said in shock, before looking down at herself. Quickly noticing that she was now showing entirely too much flesh she covered herself. "Oh no!"

"Ranma... you're a girl," Ryoga said as he finally clued in. The lost boy stared, before he finally stepped back. "That guy, he really was talking about you, wasn't he?"

"Shut up Ryoga! Do you think I like having guys chase after me? NO! It's not easy having this curse for a body you know!" Ranma angrily declared.

Instead, Ryoga shook for a second, trying to stifle laughter, before starting to draw bandannas off his head from what seemed to be a layered cache. "Don't make me laugh!" he finally said. "How can you say a thing like that? Since when is having a beautiful body like yours a curse?" Jumping into the air, he began spinning the bandannas. "Ranma Saotome, you make me sick!"

With that declaration, he threw the bandannas at Ranma like shuriken. Ranma began to dodge before noticing that Shampoo was too close for comfort and instead turned to her. "Shampoo! Look out!" she said dashed at Shampoo, dodging the incoming projectiles as she did.

However, Shampoo did not require the assistance, casually evading the objects on her own. "Worry about self Ranma, not Shampoo," she said.

"I have you!" Ryoga shouted as he let loose another volley, this time accompanied by his umbrella. However, this proved counter productive as Ranma grabbed it, and used it to shield herself from the rest of the attack. The two girls then jumped clear of the assault, landing in a nearby tree.

"Hey! Come back here! Give me back my umbrella!" Ryoga yelled as he gave pursuit.

"Hold your horses!" Ranma yelled back before turning to Shampoo. "Just be careful. I don't need to be worrying about you too."

Shampoo fumed at the suggestion. "Shampoo be fine," she shot back, before jumping down to the ground.

"Stop hiding in that tree, Saotome!" Ryoga yelled from below, undoing his belt. With a wiping motion, the belt snapped rigid as a blade and he used this to slice clean through the trunk of the tree. Ranma easily jumped clear, but Ryoga jumped to meet her, once more slashing with his new weapon. Ranma used the umbrella to parry, but like the tree, it was easily cut through, forcing her to discard the weapon. However, as they descended, she caught Ryoga by surprise with a kick to the chest.

"Who said I was hiding? Come on Ryoga, let's get this over with!" Ranma said as she faced off with her opponent.

"Then prepare to die!" Ryoga yelled, leaping into the air and firing off yet another barrage of bandannas. This time Ranma leaped over the attack, and directly at Ryoga with a flying kick, but the boy dodged it. As they crossed paths, Ryoga now tossed his belt blade at Ranma. This Ranma likewise dodged, although he sliced through several trees in its path. She landed just in time to notice the trees were now falling toward Shampoo.

Shampoo, unfortunately, was not immediately aware of the danger, having been concentrating on watching Ranma. Noticing this, Ranma quick rushed to her, shouting, "SHAMPOO! LOOK OUT!"

Shampoo now took notice, and jumped clear of the first which landed behind her. The second however forced her to jump backwards as it quickly followed the last. Off balance from the two consecutive dodges, Shampoo knew immediately that she could not manage to clear the last that was now headed directly for her. For a briefest moment, she found panic starting to take hold, but before the worst could happen, Ranma dashed in and in a diving tackle, manage to clear them both from the tree.

Breathing heavily amid the smashed remnants of the park trees, Ranma looked down to confirm Shampoo was okay. The Amazon clung instinctively to Ranma, eyes closed. After realizing that the event was over, Shampoo reopened her eyes, meeting Ranma's, betraying some of her earlier fear. However, this was only momentary before she changed to an angry look and pushed Ranma away.

"What you think you doing?" Shampoo reflexively accused, pushing him off.

"Saving your life! What's it look like?" Ranma shot back, giving Shampoo pause. "I thought I told you to be careful!"

Shampoo blinked, then self-consciously looked away. "Shampoo go," she quietly responded before getting to her feet and marching off, her emotions confused.

Ranma considered the situation. 'Idiot. Just had to open your stupid mouth didn't you,' she self admonished. "Shampoo, wait!" she called out, just as Ryoga finally found her.

"How dare you ignore me!" Ryoga yelled, once more trying to slash Ranma with the belt. However, Ranma was in no mood for this, and kicked the weapon out of Ryoga's hands, sending it spirally high into the air, out of control.

"Get lost Ryoga!" she yelled back as she ran after Shampoo. "Come on Shampoo, wait!" she called once more as she approached.

Finally, Shampoo angrily turned to her. "What you want now?" she asked as she spun around, but any response to that question became irrelevant. A swish of air, and an almost scissor like sound came from behind her, and suddenly her head felt significantly lighter.

From Ranma's point of view, what happened was obvious. She could only manage a, "Uh oh."

About this moment, Akane finally arrived at the scene. She had caught the last few seconds from the distance, but had been unable to get off a warning before it had happened. Like Ranma, she came to a halt several feet away and moaned out, "Oh no."

Shampoo first clasped her hand behind her, but this only confirmed what she feared. A slow shift of her gaze to the ground was the final confirmation as it was now littered with long purple threads of hair, sliced off by the belt blade now at her feet. Whatever emotional composure Shampoo had left quickly vanished. One boy, and one half time girl were the unfortunately fallout of such.

Less than a minute later, Akane escorted Shampoo away, the Amazon's head held low, leaving Ryoga and Ranma in a bruised and beaten heap behind them.

XXXXX

Later, inside her shared bedroom, Shampoo was looking at herself in the mirror. Fortunately, Kasumi had been able to salvage a decent amount, but the end result was clearly not to Shampoo's liking. What remained was a short cut, just below the ears. Even the two front bangs of hair had to go, unfortunate victims of the new look, although they had been preserved somewhat as two long thin curls of hair. Behind her, Akane was doing her best to be supportive.

"It horrible," Shampoo said finally.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad," Akane replied.

Shampoo grabbed one of the curls, pulled it straight and let it spring into shape. "You just say that. Shampoo look stupid."

"You do not," Akane said more seriously, but Shampoo got up and began to leave. "Where are you going?"

"Shampoo need go for walk," Shampoo answered and left the room. All Akane could do was sigh.

XXXXX

It was about ten minutes later when the still female Ranma finally reached the Tendo home. Fearing the worst, she slipped silently into the home, but to her fortune, Shampoo had already left. Once at the common room, she found Kasumi reading a book.

"Where's Shampoo?" Ranma asked in a quiet voice.

"Oh, hello Ranma. Shampoo? She went for a walk I believe," Kasumi answered to Ranma's relief. However, such was brief before Akane discovered him.

"Ranma!" Akane yelled in anger as she came up behind her. Instincts took over, and Ranma retreated quickly. "You are a complete jerk! How could you be so reckless?"

"Look, I'm sorry all right!" Ranma quickly replied, shielding herself from an anticipated beating.

"Don't hand me that! Sorry doesn't fix Shampoo's hair! Now she's really depressed!" Akane shot back, although some of her earlier anger had depleted.

Taking that for a good sign, Ranma returned to a more neutral posture, and checked her chin which was still aching from Shampoo's outburst. "Yeah, I noticed."

"You are..." Akane started to say, but stopped herself. "Oh never mind. Why am I even bothering with you?" Akane then turned to Kasumi. "I need to talk to you, Kasumi."

"Yes Akane?" Kasumi replied, looking up curiously from her book.

After giving Ranma brief look, Akane switched into Mandarin and they briefly conversed.

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Ranma asked, suspicious at the all too obvious switch in language.

"None of your business," Akane said.

Kasumi pondered for a moment. "Are you sure Akane?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Akane answered.

"Alright then," Kasumi said, and set aside her book and got up.

As the eldest Tendo daughter headed down the hall, Ranma turned to Akane. "What?" she demanded, but Akane did not budge.

"I said it's none of your business, now go away!" she ordered.

Ranma hesitated, watching as Akane followed after Kasumi. She paused at the hall however, giving Ranma scowl. "Alright, alright. I'm gone," she said quickly, and good to her word, headed out of the house.

XXXXX

Ranma wandered for some time after that. A brief stop at the doctor's had allowed him to change back to normal, but at this point he was uncertain what to do. Akane was up to something, obviously, but he did not know what. Shampoo was still probably mad as hell. Ryoga had undoubtedly promptly got himself lost once again. 'Good riddance,' was Ranma's thought on that matter.

However, his wandering came to an end when up ahead, on a bridge that crossed one of the city's many canals, sat Shampoo. Were it not for the color of her hair, Ranma might not have recognized her with the new haircut. She was sitting over the end, staring down at the water, much like she had done not that long ago when Ranma had found her at the same spot.

Before any thought of retreat could be considered, Shampoo noticed his presence and looked up. From the distance, Ranma could not make much of her mood before she returned to looking at the water. Ranma sighed in resignation. 'I better go apologize or she's just going to kill me later.' With that, he headed over.

Once on the bridge, Shampoo spoke, without looking up. "What you want?" she asked in an unreadable tone.

"I wanted to say I'm... sorry," Ranma got out, but Shampoo only huffed at the words. "Is there anything I can do?" He asked in desperation.

Shampoo did not immediately reply, but after a moment said, "Come here, Shampoo tell you."

"O...kay," Ranma replied nervously, expecting the worst. Still, he walked forward. Once beside her, she gestured at him to lean over with her finger, and once more he obeyed. What came was not in the least unexpected, but nonetheless caught Ranma off guard at the shear speed of it. In a flash he found himself airborne over the water, upside down. He had little time to contemplate this before hitting the water. A few seconds later the once more female Ranma resurfaced, and looked up at Shampoo who was now standing on the bridge over her.

"Feel better now?" she asked.

Shampoo, who was now making her anger all too plain to see, growled in response. "NO! How could..." Gritting her teeth, Shampoo checked her anger, and turned and began leaving. Ranma, however, quickly made her way to shore and intercepted her at the edge of the bridge.

"Shampoo-" Ranma just started to say, but Shampoo cut her off.

"Go away! Leave Shampoo alone!" she yelled, turning her face away.

"But Shampoo-" Ranma tried to say, but cut her self short as she could hear Shampoo choke back at tears.

"Go away!" Shampoo reiterated.

Ranma considered, then reluctantly replied, "Alright." After giving one last sad look, she headed off.

Once sure that Ranma had left, Shampoo dried her eyes and returned to the centre of the bridge and sat, once more watching her reflection. It was not long, though, before a shadow fell on her, that of Akane. Initially, Shampoo did not look up at her adoptive sister, too lost in her own thoughts, but as she sat on the bridge beside her, Shampoo caught sight of something out of order. Instinctively she looked over to see Akane, now sporting a similar hair cut to Shampoo's, one very similar to the one Akane had in her youth.

"Akane, why did you do that?" Shampoo asked in shock.

"Well, I thought that if one of us was going to get a haircut, the other can too," she answered. "Besides, I think we look better this way."

Shampoo looked at Akane in continued shock for several moments. "You really didn't need to do that," she said finally, to which Akane simply shook her head in dismissal.

"I know how much it meant to you but this isn't the village. Short hair doesn't make you any different."

Shampoo thought on this and managed a slight smile. "Thanks, Akane."

"Come on, let's go," Akane directed, and stood up. Shampoo quickly joined her and the two headed off home.

XXXXX

Arriving at the Nekohanten, the still female Ranma walked in to find Nabiki waiting tables. She paused at seeing this. "I didn't know you worked as waitress too," Ranma commented as Nabiki came by.

"I don't," Nabiki replied with a hard look. Before Ranma could question this, Soon Li came out from the kitchen.

"Oh Ranma, Nabiki just volunteered to substitute for Shampoo for the day," Soon Li said.

"Volunteered huh?" Ranma questioned, giving Nabiki a sceptical look.

"Yeah, ain't I great," Nabiki replied with a weak smile.

"Come on, Ranma, I'll get you some hot water," Soon Li directed, and Ranma followed her in back.

"Punishment?" Ranma asked as they entered the back, but Soon Li shook her head.

"Oh, not at all, she did actually volunteer. I'm pretty sure she's being blackmailed," Soon Li said with a smile. "Akane and Shampoo know of a lot of Nabiki's misdeeds, much more than I do. Every so often they leverage such against her. Given the circumstances, I'm not surprised by her being here."

"So, I take it you heard about the fight and the... hair cut."

Soon Li silently nodded as she set a kettle with some fresh water on the stove. "Yes, so how bad is it?" she asked, looking over. Ranma raised her hand to indicate the appropriate level, causing Soon Li to wince slightly. "Pretty bad."

"Yeah," Ranma agreed sadly. Silence ensued for the next minute, affording Ranma time to examine Soon Li. She actually had little contact with the woman outside of meals and had paid her little attention so far. Now, circumstances as they were, one particular aspect stood out. "Uh... your hair is pretty long too," she commented causing Soon Li to reflexively run her hand through it.

"Oh yes, it is a bit of an Amazon thing."

Ranma paled. "Oh god, I didn't break some law or-"

"Oh, no," Soon Li replied with a smile. "For starters, I told Shampoo long ago that when we left the village, we left those laws behind too. Besides, it is more a tradition. I don't know how far it goes back, but particularly among the young, they like their hair long. The longer the better. Kind of a status symbol I suppose. Once you get older you realize it is kind of silly," Soon Li explained. "I take it Shampoo is giving you a hard time over the whole thing?"

"Yeah," Ranma answered.

"I suppose that is to be expected," Soon Li said just as the water started to whistle. Removing it from the heat, she handed the kettle to Ranma. Once back to his normal male self, Soon Li continued speaking. "In truth, I suspect it isn't so much the hair cut that is bothering her, but rather that it was cut."

"Huh?"

"She got it cut against her will. It is a sign of weakness to her, and I think you and I both know that she's still rather tender on that whole issue," Soon Li explained as she took the kettle back and stored it away.

"But it was a completely fluke accident," Ranma complained, but Soon Li only shrugged.

"Unlucky or not, it happened," she said. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have a feeling Akane will deal with the situation."

"Akane? How?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"She has her ways. Come to think of it, I seem to recall it was Shampoo who pressured Akane to grow out her hair in the first place," Soon Li remarked with a thoughtful look, but seemed to quickly dismiss the matter. "You should head on home."

Ranma hung his shoulders, nodded and reluctantly headed off.

XXXXX

It was evening by the time Ranma entered the Tendo home. Caution was still in full force as he expected to encounter Shampoo. However, to his fortune once more, he found her and Akane sparring in the dojo. He did not enter, but rather remained outside, quiet and unseen, just listening in. The session sounded particularly long and intense compared to their usual matches, which only served to unsettle Ranma's thoughts.

Finally the match came to an end. Inside Akane rested against the wall, while Shampoo sat on the floor, both exhausted and breathing heavily. "Feeling better?" Akane asked between breaths.

"I think so," Shampoo replied similarly.

"That's good," Akane said. "I'm going going to take a bath." Shampoo merely nodded as slowly Akane exited the dojo, but stopped shortly outside the door, and gave Ranma a sideways glance. Ranma tensed under the look, but quickly realized Akane was not angry. Further, for the first time Ranma noticed that Akane's hair was likewise cut. "Try now," she said quietly.

"What?" Ranma asked in surprise, still off set at seeing Akane's new look.

"She should be a little more receptive," Akane explained.

Ranma blinked several times, but remembering Soon Li's words earlier finally nod. "Uh, thanks."

"You're welcome," Akane said with a hesitant smile and continued on her way.

After a moment to work up his courage, Ranma entered the dojo. Shampoo seemed less tease by this point, but remained sitting on the floor. She looked over at him with a neutral expression, "Oh, it you."

"You're not going to throw me around are you?" Ranma asked cautiously.

Shampoo looked back to the floorboards. "Shampoo too tired."

Ranma took that for what it was. "Look, Shampoo, I'm... I'm really sorry, about everything. The way I talked, your hair..."

"Alright," Shampoo cut in. "Shampoo accept apology."

Ranma blinked in surprise at this, but after a moment gave silent thanks to Akane. "It's... Your hair doesn't look that bad you know. I kinda... like it this way," Ranma offered after a few seconds.

"Shampoo do not," the Amazon quickly countered, but noting Ranma seemed unconvinced, added, "How you like wear silly pink dress to school as boy?"

"I'd die!" Ranma balked.

"Now you know how Shampoo feel," Shampoo said as she got to her feet.

Ranma frowned and shook his head. "But you're not in the village, Shampoo. You're just as good as ever. Getting your hair cut doesn't change that."

Shampoo thought on this for a moment, then looked at Ranma. "Suppose you right," she finally conceded. "Shampoo go take bath with Akane. This time, stay out if want live."

"Hey, I only did that once!" Ranma complained, causing Shampoo to smile awkwardly before leaving.

XXXXX

A week later, late at night, Shampoo turned in her bed and stared at the ceiling. The rain was pouring outside, but other than that, it was an uneventful night. Such had been the case for the intervening week. Despite her early fears that her new look would be met with ridicule at school, open or otherwise, none had presented itself. In fact, the only comment she or Akane had received on the matter were ones of curiosity, or approval. It was a relief, and in retrospect, Shampoo felt a little foolish.

Yawning, Shampoo got up, headed to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Returning to her room, she paused in the hallway to look at her reflection. 'I kinda... like it this way,' Ranma's words from a week ago echoed in her mind.

'I suppose I could keep it like this for a while,' Shampoo thought. 'Not like I've had a new style since... well ever.' Shaking her head to dismiss the thought, she continued on her way, passing by Ranma's room. However, as she did, she caught a voice in the room, one that definitely did not belong.

"Wake up, Ranma! It's me! Let's fight!" the voice demand in little over a whisper. "Come on, wake up!"

Shampoo frowned, recognizing the voice as Ryoga's. In an instant, her chui was in hand, and she flung open the door. In the darkness she spotted her target hovering over Ranma, who was still asleep. Without further excuse, Shampoo went on the attack, flinging her chui at Ryoga. The attack caught him off guard, causing him to yelp and fall back towards the window. The advantage hers, Shampoo rushed in at full tilt, leaped into the air, and kicked Ryoga directly through the window.

As soon as she did she realized several things. First, her anger with Ryoga had gotten the better of her and that she was likely to catch heck for damaging the house. More importantly, it was still raining outside. In an instant, she and Ryoga disappeared in the darkness outside.

Hearing the crash from the attack, Akane was the first to arrive and looked around the room in confusion. "Hey, what happened?" she asked urgently, then noticed Ranma was still asleep. Akane's eye twitched in anger at seeing this, and she proceeded to kick him out of the opening, yelling, "Wake up you lazy oaf!"

Outside, the now female Ranma did indeed awaken, just in time to right herself and land. She glared up at Akane who was now looking out the shattered window. "What'd you do that for?"

"Isn't it obvious!" Akane said in annoyance, gesturing at the damage.

"What happened there?" Ranma asked, causing Akane to drop her face into her palm. After a few seconds, she dismissed this and jumped out to join Ranma. "I heard a fight in your room. Have you seen Shampoo?"

"No, I haven't seen..." Ranma started to say as she made her way to the koi pond before a movement caught her eye nearby. Looking over she found Shampoo's cat form looking back at her. That was all Ranma needed to scream in panic and run into the house.

Akane watched Ranma leave, sighed, shook her head, and turned back to Shampoo. "Come on, let's get back inside before we get soaked," she said, but then noticed another animal next to Shampoo. This one was a black piglet. "Hey, where did you come from?" Akane asked as she came over to pick up the animal. It could only respond with a squeal, and wary at Akane's advance, tried to retreat, but Akane outmanoeuvred it. Picking it up, Akane petted the animal gently. "Come on fella, I'll get you all dried up in the house."

Akane quickly returned to the house, escaping the rain, finding Shampoo already waiting for her. "Shampoo, who were you fighting with?" she asked idly, looking back outside. However, Shampoo hissed and swiped towards Akane's passenger, while the piglet in her arms tried to make itself as small as possible. Looking at Shampoo, the cat nodded in a gesture Akane recognized as a request to get closer. Akane obliged and as she did Shampoo pointed at the pig. "You were fighting with a pig?" she asked in confusion.

Shampoo shook her head, and jumped onto Akane. Once more the pig tried to withdraw, but Akane held it fast, allowing Shampoo to snag a piece of cloth it was wearing in her teeth and intently shake it. Akane looked at the black and yellow cloth. "Actually, that does look familiar..." Akane noted as she considered, then went wide eyed in realization. "Ryoga?"

After a second of hesitation, the piglet finally nodded before looking away. "Oh no, not you too," Akane said sympathetically before another thought hit her. "Oh I think I get it now. Ranma has something to do with this, doesn't he?" Once more the piglet nodded, anger clear on its features.

Akane shook her head. "Alright, hold on, I'll get you two changed back, then we can talk."

XXXXX

A half hour later, Shampoo and Ryoga were both transformed back to normal and clothed. Together with Akane they had gathered in the common room as Ryoga related to the girls his rather pathetic tale. Ryoga had just finished, trying his best not to seem uneasy under Shampoo's glare.

"That jerk," Akane said with a shake of her head. "I can't believe he was so clumsy to get you knocked into one of those springs."

Ryoga finally broke his attention from Shampoo to look at Akane in confusion. "What?"

"Well, you said Ranma knocked you into the spring," Akane said, echoing Ryoga's confusion back.

Ryoga shook his head. "No, no, it was..." he started to say, then trailed off. "Wait a minute, Ranma changes into a red haired girl... you're right!" Ryoga said, getting ever louder as jumped to his feet. "That... that... slime ball! I'll kill him!"

Akane cringed as she realized her misstep. "Come on Ryoga, it was an accident," she said quickly, likewise rising to her feet.

"Where are you Ranma?" Ryoga yelled. "Come out and fight you coward!" he continued, and started to rush into the hall. Akane moved to stop him, followed quickly by Shampoo, but just as Ryoga rounded the corner, a sharp snap of electricity was heard, and Ryoga fell to the floor. Both girls stopped as Soon Li stepped into view.

"So, does someone want to explain to me why we now have a broken window upstairs?" She asked, staring hard at Ryoga for a moment, before snapping her head around. "Shampoo!"

"I... um..." Shampoo hesitated under the sudden attention before finally clapping her hands together over her head and saying. "I sorry."

"Hmm," Soon Li murmured in disapproval. "We'll talk about this in the morning," she said before turning to the boy on the floor, who was looking up at her in shock. "As for you, young man, this house is not a battle ground."

Taking his cue from Shampoo, Ryoga quickly mirrored her actions. "My apologies."

Soon Li mutely nodded. "So, if I overheard right, you have a curse as well. Can't very well have you wondering the streets in this weather. You may stay here for the night. I trust there will be no further incidents?"

"T... Thank you, and yes... I mean no, I won't do anything," Ryoga stammered out.

Soon Li nodded in approval. "Very well, Akane, please see to our guest," she said before departing the way she came. As she left, all 3 teenagers gave a sigh of relief.

"I so grounded," Shampoo moaned.

"If you're lucky," Akane joked before turning to Ryoga.

"Is that your mother?" Ryoga asked nervously.

"Step mother, yeah," Akane replied. "I sympathize about the curse, but you'll have to drop it, for tonight, alright?" Ryoga considered, looking back down the hall, before finally reluctantly nodding in agreement. "Besides, it isn't all bad. You kinda make a cute pig," Akane said with a genuine smile, oblivious of the brief blush that overcame Ryoga. "Come on, I'll show you to where you can sleep."

"Ye...yeah, su... re," Ryoga stuttered out as he got to his feet.

Watching the whole exchange, Shampoo merely shook her head, then cringed at the thought of the inevitable punishment awaiting her.

XXXXX

The rest of the night went without incident. However, come morning, at breakfast, with Ranma at one end of the table, and Ryoga at the other, the tension was thick. The others gathered there cautiously ate their meals, all awaiting the inevitable as Ryoga continued his attempt to stare a hole through Ranma.

"Cut it out Ryoga! You're giving me the creeps!" Ranma finally complained.

"Giving you the creeps is the least I'll do to you for giving me this curse!" Ryoga shot back.

"Can't you just get over it?" Ranma lamely asked, immediately regretting his choice of words as Ryoga nearly exploded.

"GET OVER IT!" Ryoga yelled in outrage. "GET OVER IT! I TURN INTO A LITTLE PIG THANKS TO YOU!" he continued, glaring at Ranma. "You have no idea of the hell I've gone through because of this blasted curse!"

Ranma, not one to back down, went on the verbal offensive. "You think you're the only one suffering! I've got a sick wacko asking me for dates every time I show my face!"

Ryoga scoffed. "That's nothing! I will have my revenge Ranma!" Getting up, Ryoga pointed a finger at Ranma in challenge. "Enough of this! I demand satisfaction, Ranma! I challenge you to a duel right here and now!"

Ranma tossed aside his chopsticks and rose to meet his opponent. "Fine, if that's the way you want it, I'll be glad to give you another beating!"

"We'll see about that Ranma!"

"Follow me then, and try not to get lost!" Ranma directed, and the boys left the table on their way to the dojo.

"Shut up!" Ryoga complained, as they departed.

"I expect to have my dojo remain in one piece, you two!" Soun called after them, with an agreeing nod from Soon Li, but got no reply. Shaking his head, Soun continued his meal with the others.

Akane shared a look of consideration with Shampoo. After a few seconds of thought, both girls silently shrugged and decided to stay out of it this time.

XXXXX

It was an hour later when the sounds of combat from the dojo finally ceased, and Ranma was the first to emerge. When Ryoga did not likewise exit, Akane and Shampoo finally gave into curiosity and entered to find him laid out on the floor, battered.

"You live?" Shampoo asked as she stood over Ryoga. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and nodded. "You lose?" Ryoga took several more seconds then reluctantly nodded. Shampoo shook her head and stepped back as Ryoga forced himself to sit up.

Akane next came up, and sat down next to him. "You satisfied now Ryoga?"

"No," the boy grumbled.

"Come on Ryoga, I know Ranma is a jerk and all but can't you forgive him?" Akane urged, but Ryoga's anger simply grew.

"Forgive him? Forgive him? My life is ruined!"

Akane pressed on. "Aren't you exaggerating, just a little?"

Ryoga turned to Akane in frustration. "Akane, I turn into a pig! A pig!"

Standing to the side, Shampoo shrugged. "No so bad."

"Not so bad?" Ryoga practically yelled in outrage. "You have no idea what it's like!" The result of this was immediate as Shampoo's indifference turned into a hooded glare. It took a second for Ryoga to realize his verbal misstep, and when he did, his own anger quickly gave way to guilt. "Ah, sorry... I wasn't-"

Huffing, Shampoo did not wait to listen to the apology and marched out of the dojo. After watching her depart, Ryoga slapped his own face. "I'm such an idiot."

"I'll say," Akane agreed in a dry tone. "She's had her curse for nearly ten years. You've only had yours for a few months," she scolded, causing Ryoga to slump. Seeing this, Akane eased back. "I do understand, I know you're angry. You just weren't thinking."

Ryoga looked back up at Akane. "Thank you."

"You know, it's not as bad as you think. Sometimes Shampoo even has fun being a cat. You'll get used to it after a while."

Ryoga looked sceptical. "I don't know."

"What's really the problem with changing into a pig?"

"What isn't a problem with it?" Ryoga blurt out, gaining a frown from Akane. Checking his temper, he tried a different approach. "How am I supposed to explain this to anyone? Everyone will think I'm a freak!"

"I don't think you're a freak," Akane replied easily.

Akane's casual response caught Ryoga off guard. "Well... I... really?" Ryoga asked finally.

"Of course," she replied with a confident smile. "Why don't you just call it even with Ranma? He's got his share of bruises, and even if you did beat him, you'd still be cursed. Hating him for the rest of your life isn't going to do you any good. Besides, in a way you, him, and Shampoo are all in the same situation. No sense in making an enemy of one of the few people who understands of your situation."

Ryoga pondered this for a moment. Finally he let out a heavy sigh and responded, "I guess you're right."

"Thanks Ryoga, you're not half bad after all," Akane said, gaining a nervous smile from the boy. After a couple seconds of silence, she switched topics. "Say, are you going home?"

"Home? I really hadn't thought about it much," Ryoga admitted as he considered. "Ahh, well, I don't know if I could even find it."

"Where are your parents?"

"Parents... I hardly see them," Ryoga answered, shying away.

"Because you're lost all the time?" Akane concluded, but Ryoga shook his head.

"That's part of it. They're out a lot too."

Akane looked at Ryoga in puzzlement before realizing what Ryoga was hinting at. "Your whole family has this problem?"

"I... well..."

Akane waved her hand to dismiss the topic. "Okay, okay. We can't have you just wandering around like this. Why don't you stay here?"

Ryoga looked at Akane in surprise. "You... you... you really think I could stay?"

"I'm sure Dad and Soon Li wouldn't mind. Besides, you never know, we might just find a cure."

Ryoga remained stunned for moment before more muttering than properly speaking, "Thank you, Akane. No one has ever been this nice to me."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating," she replied with a smile as she got up. "Come on."

"Right," Ryoga said nervously as he got up and followed Akane back to the house.

XXXXX

It was some days later, and Shampoo was out on a delivery. However, work was not on her mind, but rather their new house guest. Ryoga just seemed to be a person that Shampoo could not place her feelings for.

On the one hand, as Akane often remarked, one could easily feel sorry for him. That terrible sense of direction, which in turn lead to his harsh life often in the wilds of Japan or even further abroad was definitely sad. The curse he bore was something Shampoo could certainly sympathize with. Turning into a small animal was not fun. It was something even Akane could not fully appreciate. You had to live it.

Unfortunately there was the other hand. If there was one thing Shampoo had next to no patience for it was people acting stupid, and Ryoga was one of the worst. All that sympathy that people supposedly should be able to give him over his direction issue, Shampoo found very hard to muster. The boy was still getting lost on his way to the bathroom. Akane even attempted to put signs up, but apparently even those he could misunderstand. How could he possibly be this bad? It reminded Shampoo a lot of Mousse's annoying inability to deal with his vision issues.

Thinking of Mousse brought Shampoo pause. 'I wonder what Mousse is doing now,' she pondered briefly before she remembered the incident at Jusenkyo. As that memory washed over her, her expression hardened, and with a quick shake of the head and she banished the thought before sighing.

Of course, Akane seemed determined to help Ryoga out. It was not unexpected. Akane had a way of seeing the lost puppy in everyone she encountered. It could be tiresome at times, but it was also a characteristic that Shampoo admired.

Shampoo gave a tired smile as she considered this before hearing something curious. Just over the wall in the street, in a nearby clearing, there was the distinct sound of girls crying. Frowning, Shampoo changed course.

XXXXX

Inside the Tendo dojo, Akane and the female Ranma were once more sparring. After an unsuccessful kick, Akane asked, "So, Ranma, what do you think of Ryoga?"

Ranma frowned, and tested Akane's defence with a quick punch, but she bent with the blow. Backing off, she answered finally, "He's a bit of a jerk, but at least he's not out to kill me anymore."

Akane threw her own pratice punch which was likewise ineffective. "If you hadn't been so clumsy he wouldn't be so mad at you. You're lucky I talked him out of it."

"I'm not afraid of him! I could take him easy!" Ranma argued, emphasizing the point with a pair of kicks that Akane diffused.

"Right Ranma, what ever you say," Akane replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey! There is no way that wimp could beat me!"

"I believe you," Akane replied, tone unchanged, but with a teasing smile.

"Stop that!" Ranma complained, but quickly decided on a different tactic. "You'd think you liked the guy or something."

The reaction was exactly as Ranma expected, irritating Akane to the point that she rushed onto the attack. However, the ferocity of her assault was more than Ranma expected, as Akane jumped into the air, spun and kicked out. Ranma dodged the kick itself, but the wind it carried with it tossed her to the floor.

"Be quiet Ranma! You don't know what you're talking about," Akane growled as she landed.

"Hmm," Ranma quietly responded before Shampoo suddenly rushed into the room and began talking with Akane in Mandarin. Before Ranma could complain about being left out of the conversation, Akane spoke in Japanese.

"You did what?" Akane asked in surprise, just further confusing Ranma.

"What?"

"They say need help," Shampoo explained.

"But Shampoo, you've never trained in Rhythmic Gymnastics."

"Huh?" Ranma exclaimed, now thoroughly lost.

Ignoring her sparring partner, Akane continued, "Who's going to train you?"

Shampoo hesitated, then admitted, "Shampoo no think of that."

"Oh, just great!" Akane exclaimed.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on!" Ranma demanded gaining annoyed looks from both girls.

XXXXX

A short time later, after a visit from the much battered remains of the gymnastics club, the martial artists examined the tools left behind. The club members had gone over the basics, but Shampoo had dismissed them to treat their wounds, sure that she could manage on her own. However, whatever confidence Shampoo had was starting to show cracks as she grabbed up the ribbon. "These weapons?" she asked in extreme scepticism.

"That's what you got to use," Akane confirmed.

Shampoo snapped the ribbon in the air and frowned. "Shampoo no like," she said, but after nodding to herself added, "but will try." So declared, Shampoo set to work, although the display was far from convincing.

After a few minutes of watching, Ranma leaned over to Akane and whispered, "This isn't going to work." Akane only frowned in response. "You know I'm right. Neither of us know anything about Martial Arts Rhythmic whatever you call it, so we can't help her. Unless she's really good at self teaching..."

Akane looked over at Ranma in annoyance, but had to concede the point. As Shampoo attempted to use the ribbon, the deficiency was obvious. 'How is something like that supposed to be used as a weapon. It is as soft as cloth... hmm...' Getting up from where she was sitting, she headed to the door. "You keep practising Shampoo, I'll be right back."

'What's she up to?' Ranma wondered as she watched Akane leave.

XXXXX

Akane quickly scanned around the house. 'It's a long shot, but...' she thought as she came to the front walkway and finally found her quarry. There was Ryoga, sweeping the front for probably the tenth time if Akane were to hazard a guess, too scared to move from that area without risking losing himself once more.

Ryoga noticed Akane's arrival and instantly his demeanour changed. Boredom was quickly replaced with nervousness, causing him to mishandle the broom, dropping it to the ground. "Oh, h... h... hi, Akane," he stuttered as he bent down to retrieve it. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

Akane smiled in an attempt to ease Ryoga's anxiety. "Ryoga, you mentioned a few days ago that you've seen all kinds of martial arts, right?"

"Oh yeah, I been all over. Seen all... kinds of things," he responded.

"Do you happen know anything about Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics? I noticed the ribbon is a lot like your bandannas so I was thinking..." Akane asked, fully expecting a negative reply, but instead Ryoga became excited.

"Me, yeah, I'm an expert on the subject!" he proclaimed with new found confidence.

Akane blinked in surprise. "Really? Do you think you could train someone?"

"Su... sure," Ryoga quickly answered.

"Great! Shampoo needs someone to teach her, could you do it?"

Ryoga excitement quickly abandoned him. "Shampoo? I thought maybe you-"

"Then you can't?" Akane asked in confusion, and some disappointment.

"Nonono, I can do it," Ryoga said in another sudden shift.

"Great! Come on," Akane replied, grabbing Ryoga and leading him back to the dojo, completely oblivious to the massive blush on Ryoga's face from the contact.

XXXXX

True to his word, Ryoga did know a fair bit about the unusual martial art, and with a proper teacher, Shampoo was soon pulling off some complex techniques. Akane was pleased with that, and she could tell Shampoo was too. Few would probably understand, but Akane did. Shampoo viewed this as an opportunity to make a truly independent name for herself at the school. Since coming to Furinkan, Shampoo had been stuck in Akane's shadow. She had not complained at all, but Akane knew she had been looking for something more. This was the first time that someone had come to her for help so she was feeling a strong desire to prove herself.

Of course, that subtlety was completely missed by Ranma who was more focused on being annoyed at Ryoga. It was not hard to figure out his reasons though, as silly as they were. Ranma simply hated being shown up in any way, and yet again he found himself behind someone else. More than once he had tried to pick a fight with Ryoga using excessive criticism, forcing Akane to silence him with a well placed jab to the ribs. After several hours, she would not be surprised if she cracked a rib or two.

With night fallen, and both instructor and student showing signs of fatigue, Ryoga finally called the training session to an end. "You're coming along very quickly Shampoo. I'm sure you'll be able to do very well in the competition."

Shampoo nodded, but looked skeptical. "Shampoo good, but need more practice. You train tomorrow?"

"Sure," Ryoga agreed.

Shampoo walked out of the dojo while Ryoga put away the tools. Akane got to her feet in preparation to leave, commenting to Ranma, "I'm sure she'll do fine."

"Maybe. But this is Ryoga we're talking about. I'm sure this Kodachi won't be so easy," Ranma replied.

"You watch Ranma, Shampoo will beat her," Akane replied confidently before turning to Ryoga with a smile. "Thanks Ryoga, it's so nice of you to train her like this."

Ryoga laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "It was the least I could do. After all, I had to repay you for letting me stay here."

Unseen by either Ryoga or Akane, Ranma eyed them, scowling in even more annoyance.

XXXXX

"I still don't believe you let him stay here!" Ranma complained as he and Akane approached their respective rooms.

"Oh, give it a rest Ranma. He's got no where to go."

"Not my fault than he can't find his house," Ranma grumbled.

"I thought you said you knew where it was?" Akane asked with a frown.

"I did, I also said it would be pointless to take him there," Ranma defended. "He'd get lost again within the day."

"Well then, stop complaining," Akane replied.

"...always taking his side," Ranma muttered as he suddenly turned back.

"What was that?" Akane asked in accusation.

"Nothing. I'm going for a walk," Ranma replied, returning downstairs.

Akane let off a dismissive huff before turning back to her door, only to hear a battle cry from within.

"SHAMPOO TENDO, PREPARE TO DIE!"

Akane was momentarily shocked before throwing open the door. Inside Shampoo was in a stand off with a girl with raven hair held in a ponytail, dressed in a green leotard and wielding the a huge shattered mallet. The intruder was briefly unnerved, staring at the remains of her weapon.

"You is cheat girl!" Shampoo accused. Finally Kodachi reset her composure, gave a brief laugh, and tossed aside her broken weapon.

"My, my, you're quite brutish, can't even speak the language. My name is Kodachi, the black rose."

Shampoo sneered in anger at her opponent. "Why you attack Shampoo in dark?"

"In the dark? Utterly ridiculous," Kodachi dismissed, flipping on the light switch as if to cover herself. "I came here merely to size up my opponent before the big match next week," she said before noting Akane's presence. "I see we have company." With a quick snap of her wrist she produced a gymnastic ribbon and began spinning it to create a spiral while simultaneously releasing a cascade of black rose petals. "Perhaps we can continue this another time."

In another quick motion Kodachi disappeared out the open window, laughing as she headed into the night.

"That's Kodachi?" Akane asked, gaining only a frown from Shampoo who was still watching the window. "What is she, nuts? I can't believe she did that!"

"Shampoo no let her get away with that," Shampoo said, pulling her chui out and tossing it sharply and precisely out the window. An instant later, Kodachi's laughter abruptly ended with the sound of a thud. Shampoo smiled triumphantly. "Shampoo show her."

Akane simply shook her head, still in shock over the whole situation. "I better make sure she's gone," she said, walking out the door to head outside.

XXXXX

Several minutes later, Akane had tracked the trail of rose petals several buildings over when they came to a stop in the street.

"Hmm, must be gone," Akane remarked to herself as she looked around seeing no further signs. However, breaking the quiet of the evening, she caught the muffled cries of Ranma.

"Akkkannnneeee!" Ranma could be barely heard saying. Akane looked up in puzzlement, the plea sounding urgent, yet contradictorily being said very softly.

"Huh?" she said, and jumped towards the sound. There she found Kodachi in the midst of kissing Ranma, who was laying on the rooftop, making no apparent effort to stop her. Once more Akane was in shock, but it did not last. Fury quickly took hold. "Why... you..." she growled before kicking the pair off the roof top and into the distance. "PERVERT!" she yelled as they disappeared from view.

XXXXX

"Oh, come on you two, I'm innocent!" Ranma pleaded as he raced to catch up with Akane and Shampoo as they headed to school.

"We don't want to hear it Ranma," Akane reply sharply

"Yes, Ranma can have cheating rose girl," Shampoo added, equally displeased.

"It's not like that at all. She used some drug on me or something," he tried to explain, but Akane merely huffed.

"Yeah, sure," Akane responded sarcastically, just as Shampoo stopped suddenly. The reason became obvious very quickly.

"SHAMPOO TENDO, PREPARE TO DIE!" Kodachi once more cried out as she came diving in from above with a bokken this time, ready to strike Shampoo. However, Shampoo answered back by pulling out a Dao sword and slicing Kodachi's wooden blade off at the hilt. Kodachi landed just in time to see Shampoo point her sword directly into Kodachi's face, briefly unnerving the gymnast.

"You try surprise Shampoo. You want die?" Shampoo asked in a threatening tone. Kodachi swallowed, staring at the steel pointed between her eyes, but the gymnast quickly collected herself.

"Surprise attack? I merely came here to visit with my darling Ranma," Kodachi answered.

Shampoo frowned and pointed at Ranma. "He over there. Now leave Shampoo before Shampoo get angry!" she threatened, taking a halfhearted swipe at Kodachi who easily dodged, jumping over the attack and landing in front of Ranma.

"Oh, my darling Ranma, shall we pick up where we left off last night?"

Ranma cringed and backed away. "No, I got to go."

"Ranma darling, wait!" Kodachi called as Ranma turned to retreat towards the school. Unfortunately, he didn't make it far, bumping almost immediately into Kuno.

"Well, well, well, we meet again," Kuno said, as Ranma fell back.

"Oh man Kuno, I don't have time for this," Ranma groaned just as Kodachi grabbed him by the shoulders causing him to once more cringe.

"Oh Ranma," Kodachi cooed while hanging off Ranma back.

"Sister, what do you think you are doing?" Kuno asked in shock.

"Sister?" Ranma repeated in surprise.

Kodachi looked up from behind Ranma at Kuno. "Oh, brother dear, didn't see you there. This is my new boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Kuno echoed before looking to Ranma. "I see. Ranma, we must speak." Without waiting for a reply, Kuno grabbed Ranma and dragged him behind a nearby tree. "I realize that you wish to keep up this facade of being a man but is it necessary to seduce my sister?"

"It is not a facade, and I did not seduce your sister, Kuno!" Ranma complained. "She just... I don't know... She was falling so I saved her. I guess you could say she fell for me."

Kuno shook his head in disappointment. "Your humor at this situation escapes me. Hmmm. Well then, something shall have to be done."

Ranma moaned, but for once he was in agreement with Kuno and would take any help he could get. "Well what do you suggest?"

Kuno thought for a moment, and turned back to his sister.

"Sister, I'm afraid Ranma is already engaged," Kuno announced.

Kodachi blinked in surprise then grew angry. "Engaged? To whom?" she demanded

"To either Shampoo or Akane. He has not yet chosen," Kuno explained.

Kodachi looked back at Shampoo while producing her ribbon: "Well, well, well," she said before whipping it out in threat at Shampoo, but the Amazon easily dodged. "It seems we have more dispute than the victor of the tournament. How about it? The winner of next week's tournament gets Ranma?"

"What?" Akane blurted out in surprise.

Shampoo glared at Kodachi. "Shampoo no lose to cheat like you!" she said, in apparent acceptance of the deal.

Kodachi laughed. "You actually think you can beat me, the rising star of high school Rhythmic Gymnastics? A barbarian such as yourself probably cannot even grasp the rules let alone win," she said with confidence, causing Shampoo to fume. Turning back to Ranma, she said, "Ranma darling, do not fear, when the match is over you'll be all mine."

Much like the previous night, Kodachi spun her ribbon, creating a cascade of rose petals. "Until then my love, adieu." Once more entering a fit of laughter, Kodachi leaped away and quickly left their sight.

"That women is completely insane," Kuno said without hesitation, surprising the others.

"I noticed, although I suppose that shouldn't be surprising being your sister," Ranma commented.

"Bear with her weakness, which I think proceeds from wayward sickness and no grounded malice. I love her well," Kuno said before clearing his throat and turning to Shampoo. "Be wary of her at the tournament, Shampoo. Already a vision of you in your leotard drives me to madness!" Kuno exclaimed, briefly losing control of himself, but he quickly recovered and headed into the school. "Some innocents 'scape not the thunderbolt. That's what the ancients used to say. My sister is not the type to give up on something once she's set her sights on it. She may even fight unfairly," he said in parting.

Shampoo paid Kuno little heed. Instead she was still focused on where Kodachi had departed, clenching her teeth. "Shampoo not lose to cheating rose girl! I beat her at own game," she promised before another thought hit her, causing her some confusion. She turned to Akane and asked, "what leotard?"

"Ah, well..." Akane started to explain. Off to the side, Ranma could only bury his face in his hands.

XXXXX

Over the coming days, Shampoo would continue her training with even greater determination than before. Spending nearly every free moment in the dojo, even outlasting Ryoga's endurance, Shampoo pushed herself to the limit. When questioned about her motives she would vehemently deny it had anything to do with Ranma.

Despite his repeated insistence on his innocence in the whole matter, Ranma had yet to fully regain the trust of either of his potential fiancees. Adding to his frustration, he could swear both girls were spending far more time with Ryoga than was necessary. Still, with Shampoo having been placed as his defender, and Ryoga acting as her trainer, Ranma kept his irritation with the situation down to a stream of criticism and complaint.

With the day of the competition finally upon them, the two girls and two boys arrived at the gymnasium together. In the back of the group, with Ryoga's attention once more swaying, Ranma gave him a quick push to keep him on target. "Come on you dolt, it's this way!"

"Stop pushing me Ranma, or you'll-" Ryoga began to retort before Akane cut in.

"Would you two cut it out. You've been bickering all... week actually," Akane commented in annoyance as they came to the dressing room assigned to Shampoo and entered. Only a few steps in, Akane noticed a bundle of black roses on the table inside. "What are these doing here?"

Without saying a word, Ranma snatched up the roses and threw them out the window where they promptly exploded in a cloud of gas. Everyone but Ranma stared at this in shock.

"I don't believe her. First those tacks, then this!" Akane nearly yelled.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "That's the same stunt she pulled on me, but will you believe me?"

"I'm starting to," Akane reluctantly muttered.

"No worry Akane, Shampoo no lose," Shampoo said with staunch confidence as she took a nearby seat and started readying her supplies.

Akane frowned in uncertainty. "At this rate I'm not so sure you'll make it that far."

"Don't worry about that, I'll make sure she makes it," Ranma said. 'Cause if she doesn't I'm stuck with that wacko!' he added in thought.

XXXXX

Inside the gymnasium a large crowd of spectators were gathered waiting for the contest to begin. Standing at the centre of the ring, the female referee gave out the initial announcement of the match. "Good afternoon everybody and welcome to the St. Hebereke versus Furinkan High Rhythmic Gymnastics tournament."

After a loud cheer from the audience, the female announcer, situated at a table setup to the side of the ring, spoke. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if we may have your attention please. The Rhythmic Gymnastics match will begin at any moment."

"And the contestants are ready!" The referee said. With that, at one entrance of the gymnasium Shampoo, now dressed in a white and red leotard, entered, followed closely by Akane, Ranma and Ryoga.

"The Furinkan high challenger is entering the ring," the announcer said as Shampoo jumped into the ring and her companions took positions around her corner. "She certainly seems confident. Will she be so confident when the match begins? Only time will tell," the announcer continued, getting a annoyed frown from Shampoo. However, at that moment, spotlights around the room lit up, and music began playing, gaining everyone's attention. "And here comes the champion."

High above, Kodachi came into view, suspended on a bar wearing a wedding dress. To further the spectacle, several fire works fired off, one in particular taking a very conspicuous course directly at Shampoo. Fortunately, Ranma was paying attention, quickly grabbed a nearby gymnastics club and threw it into the rocket's path. The two objects collided, and the rocket exploded short of its target, creating a cloud of dust.

"Oh my goodness, how ever did that bomb get in there? I do hope you're all right," Kodachi said in mock surprise as she reached the ring. Shampoo coughed from the smoke then growled at her opponent who paid little attention.

"As usual Kodachi makes a dramatic entrance. And isn't her outfit just lovely," the announcer calmly said, gaining suspicious looks from Shampoo's corner. "And here they are ladies and gentlemen," she continued on, heedless, as the two girls in the ring focused firmly on each other.

"In the red corner, from St. Hebereke school for girls, Kodachi Kuno," the referee announced as Kodachi pulled off her dress with a sharp tug and tossed it aside to reveal her typical green leotard below. The display gained a loud cheer from the crowd. "And in this corner, from Furinkan High school, Shampoo Tendo," the referee continued. Shampoo did little more than glare at her opponent, yet still gained a number of cheers from those gathered there from Furinkan.

Nodding, the referee motioned for the two girls to approach the centre. "Okay girls, to the centre of the ring. All right, shake hands." Shampoo and Kodachi approached as directed, but when Kodachi offered her hand, Shampoo examined it cautiously before finally shaking hands. "To your corners," the referee said, and the two girls returned to their respective corners.

Unnoticed to all, as Kodachi's aid in her corner handed her a towel, she used it to wipe her hand off, and discretely remove a bottle. With a subtle movement, she drank the contents of the vial, still unnoticed by all, before handing both towel and bottle back. However, she could not help but smile in triumph.

Opposite her, Shampoo rubbed her hand reflexively. "Are you all right?" Akane asked, suspicious as the hand Shampoo was rubbing was the one she had used to shake with Kodachi.

"Fine," Shampoo replied, sending a quick burst of energy into her hand which relieved the slight itchy tingle.

"Now the fight you've all been waiting for, St. Hebereke against Furinkan High in an anything goes fight to the finish," the announcer said, and with that the bell rang. Both girls faced off, planning their first attacks. "The only legal attacks are through tools, bare hands are strictly forbidden. There is no time limit and if you're knocked out or fall outside the ring you automatically lose," the announcer explained as Kodachi readied her ribbon.

The assault that came was not one much of the audience was expecting though. Rather than wielding the ribbon in its usual whip like fashion, Kodachi started to slash at Shampoo as if the ribbon was a sword. Were Shampoo less cautious, she may simply have ignored this attack, as anyone would expect the ribbon to have little impact used in this fashion, but such was not the case here. The ribbon remained rigid through the whole swing, and wisely Shampoo chose to dodge it. Kodachi followed up with several more swings, but Shampoo dodged each of these as well.

"It's amazing, Kodachi wields the ribbon like it was a steel bar!" the announcer enthusiastically analyzed, which gave Shampoo an idea. With Kodachi's next swing, rather than dodge, Shampoo blocked with an electrically charged hand and the result was immediate. Kodachi dropped her weapon with a jolt, and when it hit the mat, a distinctive clank of steel was heard. "Oh, it was a steel bar but the Furinkan challenger used that to her advantage, sending a electric shock into the champion!"

"Hey ref, that tool is illegal!" Akane complained at ring side, but the referee shook her head.

"Sorry, the tools she has are legal," the referee replied.

"What?" Ranma exclaimed. 'Oh man, this is rigged. I'm doomed!'

Kodachi quickly replaced her ribbon with a pair of clubs. Shampoo tossed aside her own ribbon, which she never considered a particularly good weapon, and likewise retrieved a pair of clubs from Akane. No sooner had she received them than she was forced to block an attack from Kodachi. Shampoo retaliated in kind, immediately forcing Kodachi onto the defensive. However the shift was short lived as Kodachi discretely pressed a button on her own club. As a result, a set of spikes popped out of her club and she struck out. Defensive instinct allowed Shampoo to block the blow with her own club, but it was ruined in the clash.

"She's got spikes in that thing! That's a foul!" Akane once more complained, but the result was much like the last time.

"The tools she has are legal," the referee calmly replied.

Akane growled in irritation at the reply, while Ryoga voiced his own annoyance. "I can't believe their allowing this!"

'Legal my...' Akane angrily thought as she considered the options, then a idea hit her. 'Alright, if they are going to play that way.' "**Shampoo, use Kodachi's ribbon!**"

Shampoo nodded to Akane then rolled across the mat and retrieved Kodachi's discarded ribbon. "Its seem the Furinkan challenger prefers her opponent's tool," the announcer said as Shampoo jumped into the air and turned Kodachi's own tool against her. Kodachi ducked under the blow and twisted off to the side. The two began fencing with their respective tools. Finally, in a deliberate motion, Shampoo knocked the spiked club from Kodachi's hand, outside the ring, and tossed the steel bar outside with it. Both girls briefly without tools, they glared at each other.

"Quite confident aren't you to toss aside your advantage," Kodachi said.

"Shampoo no need stupid trick to beat you," Shampoo replied with a smile. "Shampoo beat you fairly."

Kodachi smirked. "You may come to regret such arrogance," she replied before returning to her corner. Shampoo did likewise, and both girls caught a fresh pair of clubs from their seconds. After the brief pause as they both assessed their best avenue of attack, Shampoo finally went offensive.

Thus a long exchange began, each girl slowing pushing up the intensity of the fight as it continued. However, despite Kodachi's best efforts to gain an advantage, Shampoo matched her. Finally, when Kodachi reached her own limits, she came to the disturbing realization that Shampoo was still speeding up. Such became painfully evident when Shampoo upped the tempo one more time, lanced through Kodachi's defence and landed a quick combination of blows to Kodachi's abdomen, slamming her back into the ropes.

"Hoop!" Kodachi desperately called out, and her aid quickly threw the tool to Kodachi as requested. Shampoo hesitated in pressing her attack, giving Kodachi the opportunity to take a swipe at her with the new weapon. Shampoo pulled back, raising her clubs to deflect the hoop, but the hoop cut cleanly through her wooden clubs, leaving Shampoo holding nothing but the handles.

"That's Kodachi patented Razor Hoop! The challenger is in trouble now," the announcer excitedly said as Shampoo tossed aside her destroyed weapons, and dove away from another attack.

The tide turned, Kodachi laughed. "Run all you like, but this match is mine," she taunted, but Shampoo continued to evade her. After several failed attempts to connect, Kodachi finally slash horizontally, apparently trying to behead Shampoo in the process. Shampoo however ducked under the blow. Unfortunately, that is exactly what Kodachi expected, and pressing on the frame of the hoop, it suddenly expanded. Before Shampoo could further react, she brought the now widened hoop down over Shampoo's head to just below her elbows then released. Instantly, the hoop retracted, pinning Shampoo's arms to her sides.

"Not only is it sharp as a sword, it expands and contracts too!" Ranma exclaimed in frustration, giving the referee a disapproving look, but as with the previous time, the referee was unmoved. Ranma growled, his frustration shared by Akane and Ryoga.

Kodachi on the other hand was very amused. She laughed once more as Shampoo backed off, attempting desperately to escape the hoop but failing. "Foolish girl, did you really think you stood a chance against the Black Rose?"

"This may be it for the challenger!" the announcer said in seeming agreement with Kodachi.

Kodachi gestured to her aid, and a fresh pair of clubs were thrown to her. Wasting no more time, she rushed at Shampoo attempting to strike her down, but Shampoo rolled backwards, ending up near her corner.

"Shampoo no lose yet," Shampoo muttered as she returned to her feet, and quickly turned to Akane. "Akane, club!"

Akane nodded, quickly grabbed a club and tossed it to Shampoo. However, rather than grab the club with one of her trapped arms, Shampoo leaped into the air and grabbed the club with her foot. She then landed, balanced on her free foot and faced off with Kodachi once more. Meanwhile, Akane turned to Ranma and Ryoga.

"Go get something to get that hoop off her!" Akane urgently ordered, and with a matched nod, the two boys quickly rushed on in search of such a thing. While they did so, Akane returned her attention to the fight which was hard to gauge.

Despite the now rather severe advantage, Kodachi was being thwarted by Shampoo. Shampoo was successfully keeping her at bay with the club held by her foot, but this was very taxing on the Amazon. Even keeping a hold of the weapon was proving difficult, and having to rely on one leg heavily was starting to tire Shampoo out.

"What a show of dexterity by the challenger. Champion Kodachi, despite her advantage, is unable to land a blow," the announcer said in honest surprise. "But how long can she keep it up?"

Ranma and Ryoga, were nearly at the exit of the gymnasium when Ranma suddenly stopped and slapped his forehead, before grabbing Ryoga. "Idiot! Your belt!"

"My belt?" Ryoga echoed in confusion before cluing in. "Oh yeah, forgot about that." Detaching the piece of clothing, Ryoga whipped it straight and the pair began running back to the ring.

"Just don't miss!" Ranma directed as they arrived. Ryoga nodded, took careful aim and threw. It was a well-guided attack, which unfortunately the two girls in the ring managed to complete ruin by Shampoo being forced to dodge a swing by Kodachi.

"Damn!" Ryoga cursed as he retrieved the weapon on its return flight. Another attempt came a few seconds later, but much like the first, Shampoo was once more forced to dodge at the last moment, this time away from an exploding ball thrown by Kodachi. "Someone is going to have to distract Kodachi for a second," Ryoga concluded as he once more retrieved his weapon.

"And how are we supposed to do that? Bad enough we're trying this. Don't think the ref is going to be pleased if one of us jumps in there," Ranma said before a thought hit him. "Oh man," he muttered as said idea could simply not be ignored, but he was already regretting the fall out of such. With a heavy sigh, Ranma jumped up to the side of the ring closest to Kodachi and waved. " Hey, Kodachi! You're doing pretty good in there."

The effect of Ranma's call and presence immediately seized her entire focus. "Oh, Ranma, darling!" Kodachi exclaimed, and suddenly uninterested in her opponent, she leaped over the confused Shampoo and landed directly in front of Ranma with a wide smile. "So you now realize that I, Kodachi the Black Rose, am the superior?"

Survival instincts were telling Ranma to make a run for it, but he held his ground. "Well, ahhh, actually..." he nervously stalled as behind Kodachi, Ryoga gestured for Shampoo to get clear for another attempt.

"Oh my love, worry not for I shall soon defeat this evil tramp and then we can be married," Kodachi dreamily proposed, much to Ranma shock.

"Married? Uh... but we... just met," Ranma continued to stall.

Across from them, Ryoga finally sliced open Shampoo's restraints. Freed, Shampoo returned her attention to Kodachi to see the gymnast swooning over Ranma. The sight was enough to incense Shampoo who marched over, unnoticed until she snagged Kodachi's ponytail with the handle of her club and jerked her back to the centre of the ring.

After a yelp of pain and a moment of surprise, Kodachi spun to face Shampoo, freeing her hair in the process. "You wicked, wicked girl! How dare you pull the hair of the Black Rose!"

"How dare you touch fiance! Shampoo will no stand for it!" Shampoo shot back, surprising both Ranma and Akane. Shampoo wasted no more time and took a swipe at Kodachi with her club. This Kodachi managed to dodge away from, and leaped into the air, once more producing a ribbon. She snapped it at Shampoo several times ineffectively, Shampoo evading each attack until Akane tossed her a ribbon of her own to counter. Now identically armed, the two girls duelled with their respective ribbons for nearly a minute, until Shampoo managed to catch Kodachi by her leg. Pulling sharply, she pulled the gymnast off her feet. Before Kodachi could recover, Shampoo ran in, retrieving a discarded club from earlier.

"Looks like it's all over! The challenger has stunned the champion and is moving in for the final blow!" the announced excitedly said as Shampoo moved to strike, but her blow was short.

Kodachi did not waste the opportunity, freeing herself and getting back to her feet. Shampoo meanwhile took one step, then stumbled, forced to kneel down and hold her head as the world spun. She looked up at Kodachi, and her vision blurred and distorted, producing the illusion of no less than three Kodachis facing her.

At ringside, Ranma rejoined the others and they all watched this in shock. "Something's wrong with Shampoo," Ryoga said.

"I knew that Kodachi couldn't be trusted! She must have drugged Shampoo somehow!" Akane exclaimed in anger and frustration. Her brow furrowed as she discarded the weapons before she gasped in epiphany. "The handshake! That must have been it."

"What can we do?" Ranma asked in desperation but Akane could only shake her head. "I'm doomed!"

Shampoo tried to shake away the effects but now it only continued to magnify. By this point the whole world was twisting and turning beyond all reason. Like Akane, she quickly realized the earlier feeling in her hand after the handshake must have been the cause, but was at a loss for how to proceed.

Kodachi, on the other hand, was very pleased. After letting out a quick sigh of relief for her gambit finally paying, she laughed. "What's the matter? Not feeling so good?" she taunted.

"Shampoo... ahhh..." Shampoo tried to respond as she forced herself to stand, but it was so difficult to keep her balance. Casually, Kodachi retrieved a new set of clubs, and walked up to Shampoo. Despite the danger, Shampoo's senses were so twisted she had difficulty perceiving the threat. Still smiling, Kodachi finally went on the attack, striking Shampoo easily with a vicious combination of blows from her clubs. Unable to defend, or even control her balance, Shampoo fell back into the ropes, then to the mat, stunned.

"Come on Shampoo, hang in there!" Ranma urged as he and the others rushed over.

"What a teeter-totter match we are seeing here today! First it was a seemingly sure victory for the champion! Then it was the challenger's turn! Now it's the champion again as the challenger seems unable to continue!" the announcer said, practically jumping out of her seat.

Once more Shampoo shook her head, willing herself through the effects, enough to rise back to her feet. Kodachi continued to smile smugly and she now nonchalantly took a ribbon and closed in. "Don't you think you're taking this just a little too far? You have lost, just admit it."

"Shampoo no lose... to... you," Shampoo weakly replied, but the resistance only caused Kodachi to shake her head in mild amusement.

"Then I suppose I'll just have to teach you a lesson in humility," the gymnast said then began to use her ribbon to whip Shampoo. Despite Shampoo's best efforts to dodge, or defend, her sluggish reactions made her an open target for Kodachi. Finally, she crashed into the ropes, her leotard cut in several places, and in some cases the skin below as well.

"Oooo, it's Champion Kuno's infamous whip ribbon assault! Remember folks, we're not talking your regular everyday ribbon! These ribbons used here are made from high strength steel fibres! A bull whip would be less painful!" the announcer said.

Ranma, Akane and Ryoga watched in concern as Shampoo attempted to focus back on the battle. Shampoo made a swipe with her own ribbon but it was far wide of Kodachi. Kodachi laughed, and signalled for a ball. Taking careful aim, she threw it at Shampoo.

"Shampoo! Jump!" Akane urgently yelled.

Shampoo jumped into the air and landed unsteadily on a corner post as the ball exploded. Kodachi shrugged, unconcerned, then whistled. The ring suddenly moved away from Shampoo, throwing her further off balance, giving Kodachi cause to laugh once more.

"A mere whistle seems to move the ring! Could this be it for the challenger?" the announcement wonder openly.

"What is this? Has she got the whole place rigged?" Ranma growled.

"This is ridiculous! Why don't they disqualify her?" Ryoga added in his own frustration, but as usual the referee seemed uninterested in this turn of events.

Despite Shampoo's best effort to re-balance herself, she simply could not. In danger of falling outside, in desperation she cast her ribbon high into the supports above and snagged one just as she fell.

"Oooh, a last second desperate measure has temporarily saved the challenger, but can she make it back into the ring?" the announcer continued on as Shampoo began to swing back to the ring. She aimed for the centre as best she could, and at the last instant pulled her ribbon free of the support to flip in.

Kodachi, however, had other ideas and once more whistled, sending the ring moving back to its original position, and clear of Shampoo's landing spot. Fortunately for the Amazon, another quick toss of the ribbon managed to snag another support, keeping her from touching the ground.

Akane shook her head in frustration. "She'll just keep this up all damned day if we don't stop her whistling. Hmmm," Akane said as she thought, then an idea came to her "**Use your punch!**" she called out.

Shampoo looked around in Akane's direction as she swung and nodded in understanding. Pumping her legs to swing higher, she finally released high in the air and over the mat, her fist ready.

"Cover your ears!" Akane told the boys before covering her own. However, the two boys, just looked back in confusion.

In that instant, Shampoo struck, committing herself to the attack, she streaked down at the ring and a monstrous thunder filled the gymnasium. A combination of intent to increase the volume and the reverberation within the building further magnified the sound, deafening all within that had not shielded their ears. Even Kodachi's attempt to whistle was lost in the noise, allowing Shampoo to strike true on the mat. The impact point, the left side of the ring, easily shattered under the blow and only instinct to jump clear by both girls protected them from falling.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Ranma yelled as his ears continued to ring.

"Thunder clap punch. Didn't you cover your ears?" Akane replied.

"WHAT?" Ranma yelled in confusion.

"I SAID, DIDN'T YOU COVER YOUR EARS?" Akane yelled back.

"WHAT? YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Akane sighed. "Never mind."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?" Ranma once more yelled, but Akane only responded with a shake of her head.

The rest of the gymnasium's occupants were no better, many groaning in pain. One particular group, however, was particularly conspicuous as they scrambled out from beneath the now destroyed ring, that of much of the St. Hebereke gymnastic team.

"Well folks, if you can still hear me, it looks like it was people power that moved that ring! Wooo, looks like were going to be dipping into the new equipment budget for a new ring, the left half is completely destroyed!" the announcer continued after a minute.

Kodachi growled in pain as she futility tried to clear her ears from the ringing noise. "Well, well, well. An impressive display but utterly futile," Kodachi said loudly as she faced off with Shampoo once more. "Now prepare yourself for the dreaded attack of... a thousand clubs!" Kodachi announced and rushed into a club attack. To most observers it seems like Kodachi was wielding twenty clubs at once. To Shampoo it seemed like ten times that number and defence did indeed prove futile as the attack landed cleaning sending Shampoo crashing to the mat, clinging barely to consciousness. Akane gasped, a feeling Ryoga and Ranma shared.

Kodachi once more laughed. "Foolish girl, no one can match the black rose!"

Shampoo panted a few times then gathered her strength and flipped unsteadily to her feet, a look of shear unrestricted outrage on her face. "Shampoo... no... LOSE!" Grabbing up a pair of clubs from a conspicuous pile left over from Kodachi's attack, Shampoo charged Kodachi. As she did, her arms seemed to be sheathed in arcs of electricity. The display was startling to all, particularly Kodachi who hesitated just the instant Shampoo needed to attack. Shampoo's arms blurred, and seemed to disappear completely as she sent a barrage of club blows into her opponent. Kodachi quickly lost ground, falling into the ropes, but Shampoo continued to press on, pinning the gymnast there.

Nearly a minute went by as Kodachi could do nothing more than endure the onslaught. Exactly what gave way first, Kodachi's consciousness or the ropes, no one would be sure, but it was the ropes giving way that finally sent Kodachi flying out of the ring and into the audience. Shampoo nearly followed her from the shear momentum of her own attack, but managed to stop herself and collapsed within the ring, exhausted.

The announcer jumped out of her seat in excitement. "What an upset for Kodachi! She has fallen out of the ring and been knocked out making Shampoo the new champion!"

XXXXX

A short time later, with Akane helping Shampoo, the martial artists were on their way out of the gymnasium when Kodachi called them to a halt. The group turned back to her, cautious as she approached.

"You there, Ms. Tendo. I Kodachi, the beautiful young flower of St. Hebereke, the one they call the black rose, have been... defeated," Kodachi reluctantly admitted. "But let it not be said that I am not a woman of my word. As per our agreement you may have my darling Ranma, at least until I inevitably defeat you and reclaim him," she said with renewed confidence and turned to Ranma. "Until then, take this my darling, in memory of me."

Throwing Ranma a single black rose, Kodachi headed off in the opposite direction, doing her best to seem undamaged by the fight, but her near collapse several feet away told differently. As soon as she left sight, Ranma looked at the rose, shivered, and quickly tossed it. "That woman gives me the creeps!"

XXXXX

Later than evening, back at home, Shampoo, back in her usual attire, lay on her bed, a warm cloth on her head, staring on the ceiling. Akane soon entered with some clothes which she proceeded to put away in the dresser.

"How you feeling?" Akane asked as she went about her work.

Shampoo looked over at Akane briefly before closing her eyes. "Only see three now, must be better."

"Dr. Tofu said it would take a while for that antidote to kick in," Akane said.

"Shampoo so tired. Shampoo have aches all over. Shampoo never fought so hard, except against Akane," Shampoo said with a heavy sigh.

"But you still won, even though she cheated," Akane replied.

"**I should have taken her much more seriously. I could have won that much sooner if I'd fought with everything I had. Instead I wanted to beat her at her own game and... oh, now I feel like this,**" Shampoo said with a moan. "**If I ever do that again, hit me.**"

Akane chuckled. "Sure thing. Go to sleep, you need it. I'll be sure to be quiet," Akane said and started to leave, but stopped at the door and looked back. "Oh yeah, that's right, what are you going to do with Ranma?"

"Hmh?" Shampoo murmured in confusion.

"Well there was that little deal you had with Kodachi..." Akane pointed out.

"Shampoo no like deal," Shampoo replied quickly.

"Like it or not, it does stand. Don't let me stop you," Akane said with a teasing smile, and quickly left before Shampoo could respond.

'Shampoo win for honor of school, not Ranma,' Shampoo thought with a frown, but after a moment, her thoughts shifted slightly. 'He okay though...' Shampoo smiled for a second then shook off the thought. She closed her eyes and started to drift off but was awoken by a knock at the door. She opened her eyes and sat up. "Yes?"

"Can I come in for a sec?" Ranma asked on the other side of the door.

"Yes," Shampoo answered.

Ranma opened the door and walked in, paying unusual attention to everything in the room but Shampoo. "You feeling okay?"

"Not really," Shampoo replied.

"Oh... uh... I wanted to say, ah, thanks," Ranma said.

"For what?"

"For getting me out of that stupid date of course!"

Shampoo huffed. "Shampoo fight only for school, not you."

Ranma frowned slightly. "Fine, but thanks anyway," he said and turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "You're a pretty good fighter Shampoo, almost as good as me," he said before quickly retreating out of the room, narrowly avoiding a thrown pillow.

"Arrogant jerk! Next time Shampoo let cheating rose girl have!" Shampoo called after him.

XXXXX

Across town at the Kuno mansion, Kodachi Kuno was laying in a warm bath to sooth her aching body. Hours later, she was bruised so badly it almost looked like one blue mess.

"That wrenched girl," Kodachi muttered as she winced from another movement causing her pain. 'It is clear I cannot match her in force of arms. To win Ranma back I'll have to take a different approach. Hmm, the toxin did work quite well, just not good enough... hmmm,' she thought before calling out, "Sasuke!"

"Yes mistress?" Sasuke, the house ninja asked from behind the doorway where he had been commanded to wait.

"Go to the library and fetch me every book they have on biology, and chemistry, particularly botany. I think it is time I improved my talents in this area."

"Yes mistress, right away," Sasuke replied, and his footsteps could be heard racing off.

Kodachi lay back and began her plans.

%End chapter 5

This was a much longer chapter than I thought. Guess with 2 plot lines going on it, it should be expected.

Editing wise, I added that little scene at the end. Although Kodachi has shown some aptitude with drugs and the like, later on I have her showing a fair bit more than that, so figured I drop a quick explanation for her improvement in here. Other than that, tweaked some dialogue and the fight a bit to better explain why Shampoo did win the fight much sooner than she did.

Next chapter is going to be probably quite an overhaul I suspect.


	7. Chapter 6

%Chapter 6

It was evening at the Tokyo dock yard, and two boat hands were helping prepare cargo. It was going to be a long night of loading before the ship would set out for China for delivery and to pick up a return load. Such was the ritual.

"Hope the weather clears up by tomorrow," one man commented as he checked off boxes on the manifest. "Hate going across in rough weather."

"I hear you," the other commented as he checked his own portion of the cargo. "That last storm we hit... ugh... don't want to go through that again."

As both men shared a chuckle of mutual agreement to that, a dark figure dove in from above. Neither man saw this figure approach until the person landed up the way several feet, in a darker section of the dock. As they landed, several crates above split cleanly in two and crashed to the ground. Naturally, both men, jumped back in surprise and fear at seeing this, and looked to the figure to see the outline of a young woman.

"Ranma? Where she?" the young woman asked, the tone of her voice making clear that anything other than a proper answer would be unhealthy.

"Ranma? You mean..." One man blurt out in fear, remembering the name from a pair of passengers their ship had ferried from China not long ago.

"Uh, the father said they were going to Nerima district I think," the other man quickly elaborated.

"Nerima?" the girl echoed.

"That's all we know, we swear," the first man quickly added. Thankfully, the girl seemed satisfied and quickly disappeared. "God damn, what was she?"

"Don't know man, but not someone to mess with to be sure. I wonder why she called that boy Ranma a she?"

"Who knows. Didn't sound like she knew Japanese well," the other speculated and looked at the ruined cargo. "Man, we're going to end up paying for that, I just know it."

XXXXX

Another morning found Ranma completing a morning run. Panting heavily, he reached the entrance to the Tendo home and leaned over onto his knees with exhaustion. Taking several moments to recover, he entered to the distinctive sounds of strong winds and electricity coming from the back. Considering his options, Ranma chose to peak in on the morning sparring match between the girls.

'At least I don't have to deal with that jerk Ryoga for a while,' Ranma thought as he approached the dojo, the lost boy once more proving his nick name was all too apt and having disappeared the day after the gymnastic tournament to god knows where.

Arriving at the dojo, he noticed the sounds were not coming from within, but rather the back yard. Circling the dojo he came upon the unexpected sight of Soon Li engaged in a kata ritual of her own.

Ranma paused at seeing this, and simply observed. The forms Soon Li used in her Kata were familiar, similar to Akane's and Shampoo's which by now Ranma had seen several times. She, however, combined the two styles in a fluid manner that was practically impossible to describe, or follow. Even Ranma's advanced senses had severe trouble keeping up, and often he found himself looking around for a second to catch up with the action.

The practice soon came to an end though, with Soon Li giving Ranma a curious look. "Morning Ranma," she greeted as she walked over to the dojo walkway to pick up a towel left there.

"I'm not... um... interrupting?"

"No, I'm done," Soon Li replied as she dried some sweat with the towel. "If you're looking for Akane and Shampoo, Akane wasn't feeling well this morning and Shampoo went with her to see Doctor Tofu."

"Oh," Ranma said with nod.

"Nothing serious I'm sure. She caught a cold or perhaps a bit of a flu I suspect. It's been raining pretty hard the last few nights, so with her mostly on deliveries I half expected it," Soon Li said as she approached. Ranma nodded in agreement and turned to head back to the house when Soon Li continued on, "Oh, and you're still two minutes slower than they are."

The reaction to this was immediate as Ranma fell onto his face. Soon Li looked down at him curiously, but rather than initiate his usual denials, Ranma merely lay there for a moment. "How do they do it?"

"They got quite good at that course. You should not be hard on yourself. Getting within two minutes of their time is impressive," Soon Li consoled him.

Ranma quickly popped back to his feet and shook his head. "No, I mean... this wind and lightning style stuff. I'm usually really good at knowing how techniques work. Even if I can't totally figure it out, I can at least get a good idea of the principles, but this stuff..."

Soon Li nodded knowingly. "You're not the first to say that. Many at the village have attempted to analyze my style for years and failed. It seems to defy such analysis."

Suddenly Ranma turned to Soon Li. "Would you teach me?" he asked, surprising the Amazon. Before she could reply, he pressed on. "If it's a girl only thing, I'm... sort of a girl. I can do it. And, if it's about family, I'm going to be family soon so-"

"Oh, you've chosen one of them as your wife then?" Soon Li asked with a pleased smile, but Ranma cringed.

"I... uh... well..."

"No?" Soon Li asked in disappointment, Ranma hanging his head. She shrugged. "It little matters on this subject. Either way I simply can't."

"Why not?" Ranma asked with his own disappointment.

"I simply don't have the time," Soon Li replied. "Between running the restaurant, keeping the house in order, training the girls and getting some practice time in myself, not to mention some private time, I don't have any time left."

Ranma opened his mouth to argue, paused then replied, "Can't you just teach me while teaching them?"

Soon Li shook her head. "Sorry. I'd have to start with basic forms with you which the girls naturally already know. They don't get a lot of time to train with me as is, I wouldn't feel right further using that time up to catch you up to them."

Ranma hung his shoulders in defeat. "I guess you're right, and that takes years right?"

"Well, depends largely on how much time you get to train. I've really only been teaching the girls for the last two, and that is off and on-"

"Last two?" Ranma asked in surprise. "But, I thought you starting teaching them back at the village, and that was nearly a decade ago."

"I taught them only the fundamentals at that time. It would not be wise to go beyond that point with children at that age. After all, would you teach 7 year old girls how to toss lightning and tornadoes around?"

"Uh, no," Ranma was forced to agree. "So they got this far in just two years?"

"I did teach them some standard Amazon forms I've learned, and Soun taught them some Anything Goes style, so they didn't start from scratch. But, yes, the advanced forms of the styles they have learned entirely in the last two years," Soon Li answered, and continued on to the house.

Ranma thought for a moment, but having no further argument, conceding the point for the moment and dashed to catch up. "Out of curiosity, why don't you teach them both styles at once?"

Soon Li shrugged. "Can't really say for sure. I just have this feeling that teaching each sub-style individually is better. It's hard to explain," she answered, and Ranma decided not to push the matter. "The girls said they would head straight to school after seeing the doctor, so you should meet them there."

"Right," Ranma said with a bit of a sigh.

XXXXX

The school day passed in a bit of a haze for Ranma. His thoughts were in a jumble and preoccupying him. Among his concerns was how to improve himself from here on. After seeing Shampoo's display during the gymnastics match, Ranma, despite his bravado, knew that Shampoo and by extension Akane were both out of reach. That did not sit well with him, not one bit.

His conversation of earlier, however, had also reminded him of another matter, that a choice was still pending. 'I never wanted this stupid engagement,' he thought. 'Even worse... I can't believe I'm actually considering it.'

Not finding answers to either dilemma for the whole of the school day, Ranma soon found the school day ended. At his locker, he was in the midst of changing footwear when Shampoo suddenly showed up.

"Where you go?" Shampoo demanded.

Caught off guard by both her sudden appearance, and her tone, Ranma fumbled for a second. "Uh... I don't know... what'd I do?"

"You go home," she ordered, further confusing Ranma.

"Huh?" Ranma said, finally getting Shampoo to reset and start over.

"You no notice Akane no come back from lunch?" Shampoo asked with a frown.

Thinking for a moment, Ranma winced as he realized that Shampoo was correct. "Ah... no, I was kinda... guess she really wasn't feeling good."

"No," Shampoo confirmed. "Everyone else no home tonight. You only one left."

"Everyone?" Ranma questioned in surprise. "Kasumi's usually there."

"She go out tonight."

Deciding not to further argue the point, Ranma raised his hand in yielding. "Okay, okay, I was probably going to go home anyway."

Shampoo nodded and started to walk away. "Shampoo be at restaurant. Call if anything happen," she said, then paused. "Thank you," she added, before quickening her pace and heading off.

"Jeez, it's just a little cold," Ranma said before heading off.

XXXXX

"I'm going to bed," Akane said through a stuffed nose, and promptly entered a coughing fit. After that passed, she moaned and headed upstairs, leaving Kasumi and Ranma together at the entry way.

"And she looks twice as bad as she sounds," the freshly arrived home Ranma said in shock.

"Yes, she's running quite the fever," Kasumi added, looking after Akane, then turning back to Ranma. "Thank you for coming home. I really didn't feel comfortable leaving her home alone feeling as she does."

"No problem," Ranma said as he finished removing his shoes. "Where you off to, anyway?"

"A few of my friends from China are in town. I don't get to see them very often. They travel a great deal."

"From China? What do they do?" Ranma asked as Kasumi prepared to depart.

Kasumi paused in thought then smiled. "I honestly don't know. Never bothered to ask. They seem to be pretty well off. Oh well, I'm sure it isn't very important," Kasumi answered. "Thanks again for agreeing to stay home. I'll be back later tonight, but father will probably be the first to return."

"Right," Ranma said as Kasumi gave him a departing smile and headed out. He closed the door after her, and considered his options. Finally, he decided to head upstairs himself and to his room, pausing briefly to look at the closed door to Akane's room. 'Better just leave her be for now,' he thought and headed inside.

Ranma passed the time pouring over a manga he had purchased the other day, but once more his thoughts were a jumble. Every few minutes he could hear Akane enter another coughing fit in her room. That combined with thoughts of earlier made it so he had read the same page more times than he could easily count.

Finally, Ranma heard the door to Akane's room open, and the girl walking down the hall, letting out a moan of discomfort. He glanced at the doorway just in time to see Akane pass by, wrapped in her blanket, looking thoroughly miserable. She continued, heedless of his presence, and headed downstairs. Once there, Ranma heard the television turn on, followed once more by another coughing fit. Two more coughing fits later, Ranma tossed aside the manga and began searching his room.

"Where is it?" he mumbled as he rifled through his and his father's belongings until coming up with small bag. Untying it, and shaking it into his hands, a few small brownish balls fell into his hand. Nodding, he replaced all but one in the bag and headed downstairs. There he found Akane in the common room, leaning on the table, watching the television. Noticing his approach, Akane glanced at him, but said nothing.

"Here, take this," Ranma said, offering the tiny pill to Akane.

Akane once more looked at Ranma, then at the pill in his hand. "What is it?" she asked.

"Some medicine," Ranma replied.

Akane eyed the pill cautiously, but when another coughing fit struck her, any reservations she had quickly got put aside, and she took the pill. She swallowed it, and sighed. "Doubt it will help."

"It will, you'll see," Ranma retorted, then suddenly found himself with nothing to do. After an aimless moment, he asked, "Anything else you need?"

Akane murmured in discomfort, sighed, then replied, "I suppose I should eat, although I don't feel like it."

Ranma jumped to his feet. "Right, I got it," he said and quickly rushed off to the kitchen.

Akane watched him leave curiously. 'He's awfully eager to please all of a sudden,' she thought, but smiled just slightly nonetheless, before returning to the television.

As the minutes went by, Akane was surprised to find that she was in fact feeling better. The muscle pain that accompanied the fever abated, and her cough was reduced to a minor nuisance. Even her nose cleared up. By the time the show she was watching came to an end, she felt almost normal.

Just as she was pondering this change, Ranma returned with a tray in hand. He rather forcefully place the tray on the table and sat down opposite Akane. She looked over the contents, assorted sliced fruits and vegetables, then up at Ranma. "You don't know how to cook, do you?"

"I do too. Just... not..." Ranma protested feebly.

"Instant stuff," Akane concluded for him, and although he frowned, he did not argue the point. However, rather than push the matter, Akane grabbed up a piece of apple and began eating. After she moved onto the next piece, Ranma's expression returned to a more neutral one, and he began eating as well.

The pair ate in silence, watching the television off and on for several minutes until the tray was finally empty. It was Ranma who finally broke the silence between them. "How you feeling?"

"Much better, actually," Akane admitted. "Where did you get that stuff?"

"A village in China," Ranma answered. "Pops came down with something, and we couldn't be sticking around long, so the village doctor gave that to us. Said they got it from some other village that specializes in all kinds of herbal medicines."

Akane nodded. "Well, it definitely works. Get anything else in China?"

Ranma looked at Akane, briefly fiddled with his pigtail, then shook his head. "Not really anything special." As silence started to fill the air once again, Ranma reflected the question, "How about guys? You were in China for quite a while."

"Oh, we picked up our share of weird things," Akane replied, then considered. After a moment, she asked, "You want to take a look?"

"Uh... sure," Ranma replied.

Akane stood up, abandoning her blanket for the moment, and lead the way down the hall and to Soun and Soon Li's room. This room was similar to Ranma and Genma's room in that it lacked a bed, but it did have a large cabinet to one side which Akane approached. Ranma did likewise, taking particular note of the very elaborate lock on the front. "What the heck is with this lock? Looks like it has a pinwheel in there... what do you do, use your wind...?" Ranma began to ask, before turning to Akane and noticing her holding a very simple key. Pushing aside a hidden panel she inserted it, and the cabinet opened.

"The stuff is just decorative," she said with a teasing smile.

Inside Ranma saw several shelves with various small trinkets on them. Behind the shelves, laying diagonally, was a large sword heavily inscribed. Ranma ignored that for the moment as Akane grabbed a small ball with a star at the centre and handed it to Ranma. "What's this, a dragon ball?" he joked, to which Akane gave him an annoyed shove.

"No, just look into it," she said, prompting Ranma to do just that.

"Hey," he said in surprise, and manoeuvred to look through the ball at the sky. "I can see the night sky."

"Yeah. Doesn't matter the time of day, the weather, or even if you're indoors. Look through that and you can always see the stars perfectly. Great if you're navigating by the stars," Akane explained before Ranma handed it back to her. "Not so useful nowadays of course, but still neat," she said as she placed it back inside.

Ranma next removed a necklace and examined it. The chain and materials were simple, depicting a horse running on top of a lightning bolt. "What's this?"

"That amulet will let you run for a day straight without rest," Akane replied.

"Seriously?" Ranma asked and Akane nodded.

"Unfortunately, to recharge it you need to sacrifice a horse," Akane said with some disappointment. "Oh yeah, and it is depleted right now, so basically it is useless."

"Hmm," Ranma replied with his own disappointment before replacing the necklace in the cabinet and turning to a pair of wrist bracers. "And these?"

Akane hesitated, but then reluctantly answered, "Bracers of giant's strength."

"Don't work?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, they work," Akane answered. "They just have one catch, you turn into a giant too, like a 30 foot or so tall giant." Ranma eyed Akane curiously, who blushed and looked away. "Don't ask."

"Right," Ranma said and turned back to the sword. "And the sword?"

"That's the Black Dragon," Akane replied with a frown, and unexpectedly closed the cabinet. Ranma looked at Akane inquisitively as she locked the cabinet back up. Reluctantly she turned to him and explained, "We don't know what it does, but it is definitely magic and dangerous. We're keeping it away from a particular man we ran into in China."

"Anything I should be worried about?" Ranma asked.

"Hopefully not. Soon Li buried him under a mountain," Akane replied plainly to Ranma's shock. "Believe it or not, he's probably still alive. Nothing else seemed to hurt him so I doubt that stopped him, but he won't be getting out anytime soon."

"Uh... okay. Sounds like a pretty serious guy," Ranma said, to which Akane could only nod in agreement.

"Yeah, just don't go mentioning this to Nabiki, okay. She is rather sore on that subject," Akane cautioned. Seeing Ranma in thought, she reinforced, "I mean it, Ranma. I know Nabiki can be a pain, but that topic is strictly off limits."

"Alright, alright, consider it forgotten," Ranma quickly responded. "He didn't-"

"Thankfully no. It isn't really a matter of what he did, it is more than he could have done it. Just leave it alone though," Akane said, and replaced the key in a hidden slot in the ceiling.

Akane headed off into the hall once more, and after one last glance at the cabinet, Ranma did likewise. "I take it the other stuff is pretty much the same?"

"Yeah, there is a cloak that is like a chameleon which isn't too bad I suppose. Rest is pretty useless stuff," Akane replied as they neared the common room once more. However as they turned to enter, Akane felt suddenly light headed and misplaced a step. She let out a yelp, but rather than hit the floor, she found Ranma had caught her.

"You alright?" Ranma asked as he pulled Akane back up to a standing position. Akane looked up at him, finding a very peculiar feeling overcoming her at the close contact the two were now in. A few seconds passed in silence, neither Akane nor Ranma able to take action.

What would become of this incident would become an unknown as the main door opened and a voice called out, "Nihao!"

Shampoo soon came down the hall carrying a small white bag, and looked into the common room. There she found Ranma laying on the floor, apparently engrossed in a television program, while Akane sat at the table with a book in front of her. Shampoo examined the scene briefly before turning to Akane. "Akane, you feel better?" she asked, laying the back of her hand against Akane's forehead. "Hm, fever much better."

"Uh... yeah, Ranma gave me some medicine," Akane replied without looking up. "Aren't you working?"

"Yes," Shampoo answered, and placed the bag on the table. "Shampoo just come drop off medicine, but look like no need now."

"Yeah... uh... thanks," Akane said, still with her attention solidly on the book.

Shampoo once more looked between the two, then weakly smiled. "Okay, guess Shampoo go back work then. You get better, Akane," she encouraged and rather quickly returned the way she came. A moment later she left by way of the front door.

After another few seconds, Akane sighed and mentally slapped herself. 'That was rather rude of me,' she thought, looking up at the bag Shampoo left glumly. 'Oh, I'll apologize to her later,' she thought, giving Ranma a look. "I think I should try and get some sleep. Still not one hundred percent."

"Right," Ranma replied without looking back.

Sighing once more, Akane gathered up her blanket and headed back upstairs to her room. However, she could not quite shake the feeling of disappointment.

XXXXX

Outside, and on her way back to the restaurant, Shampoo was still thinking about the encounter. 'Ranma watching the financial news, and Akane reading a dictionary... so just what did I interrupt?' she wondered. The conclusion was a bit too obvious, given Akane's attitude. 'Hmm, so what am I going to do about that?' she asked herself.

XXXXX

The next day, a much healthier but damp Akane was walking to Dr. Tofu's clinic with Shampoo in cat form in her arms. Behind her a likewise damp and female Ranma was following, holding Shampoo's school uniform and bag. The threesome arrived, Akane releasing Shampoo and combing some water out of her hair with her hand. Ranma withdrew to the doorway at seeing Shampoo on the ground.

"Ranma, for someone who doesn't like cats you sure act like one all the time," Akane said.

"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"A'fraidy cat!" Akane teased, causing Ranma to scowl.

"Oh shut up! Do you think I like having this stupid phobia? It's all Pop's fault!" Ranma complained.

Akane shook her head in amusement. "Yeah, yeah. You sound like when you're complaining about your curse."

"Well that's his fault too! Come to think of it, nearly everything that's gone wrong in my life is because of him!"

"Give me Shampoo's clothes would you," Akane prompted, and Ranma did such. Opening a door to one of the examining rooms, Shampoo dashed inside, followed by Akane. After the sound of water running and a splash of said water, Akane returned with a small bucket which she attempted to hand to Ranma. However, the boy turned girl waved it off. "Aren't you going to change back?"

"Why bother? It's probably going to rain again pretty soon. I'd just change again," Ranma said.

Giving the sky outside a quick look, Akane could do little but agree. "Oh, alright," she said as she returned to the room and dumped the remaining contents. She returned to the waiting room and sat down next to Ranma

"I wonder where Dr. Tofu's off to?" Ranma asked as she looked around the clinic.

"I think Kasumi said she was returning a book today," Akane answered.

Ranma nodded knowingly. "Oh, that explains it. He's off on one of his cross town dances again."

Shampoo, now human and dressed in her uniform, came out to the waiting room. Seeing this, Akane and Ranma stood, and Akane turned to leave. "Come on, let's get going," she prompted, but Shampoo shook her head.

"**Maybe you two should go without me,**" Shampoo said, bringing Akane to a halt.

"**Don't you want to come? Not often we both get a break from work.**"

"**Yes, but Ranma's right, it's going to rain again soon and we haven't got an umbrella. I'll just head home,**" Shampoo replied.

Akane examined Shampoo for a moment, but decided not to argue. "Alright," she reluctantly said, and Shampoo headed off on her own. "I'll bring you back something, okay?" she called after her.

"Okay, bye bye. Have good time," Shampoo called back with a wave.

Now alone together, Ranma looked to Akane questioningly. "Not coming?"

"No. Well, let's go," Akane said in disappointment. 'I hope she isn't mad or anything,' Akane thought, but quickly dismissed such as unlikely. Shampoo was generally not subtle with her anger even towards Akane. 'Still...' Akane thought, but having no answers decided to drop the matter for now. Gesturing for Ranma to follow, Akane headed out, and they went on their way.

Down the street and around the corner, Shampoo paused to look over her shoulder and see the pair walking past. She considered briefly, then sighed and continued on her way. However, after only a few steps she stopped, her battle senses slightly alarmed. She looked around, but the feeling soon passed. Shrugging, she continued on her way, missing the form of a young girl jumping over the street, rooftop to rooftop, heading in the direction of Ranma and Akane.

XXXXX

A short time later Ranma and Akane were walking down a market place street, each holding an ice cream cone. "You want to, maybe, go to a movie later Ranma?" Akane suggested, looking away.

"Sure. Any good martial arts flicks on?" Ranma replied causally.

"You and your martial arts. Is that the only thing you think about?" Akane asked in slight annoyance.

"No, I sometimes think about food, like now for instance," Ranma joked.

Akane shook her head and sighed. "Ahh, you're pathetic, Ranma."

Suddenly, the moment was shattered with loud female battle cry of , "RANMA! DIE!" This caught both girls by total surprise, but fortunately still left Ranma enough time to dodge. Ranma dove forward, losing her ice cream in the manoeuvre, narrowly evading a giant butterfly battle axe which embedded into the concrete where she was once standing.

Ranma rolled over to see exactly what she feared. Akane likewise looked behind her to see a Chinese girl, roughly their age, with waist length brown hair, dressed in a red and black battle outfit particular to the Amazons. An instant after seeing her, she swept her hand, and another equally huge battle axe of identical design appeared in her hand which she pointed toward Ranma.

"P...P...P...P..." Ranma stuttered in surprise and terror.

"I kill you now!" the girl announced.

"Ranma, who's this?" Akane asked, although she already had a pretty good idea. Ranma, however, merely continued her stutter, too shocked to move.

Finally, the girl charged, and chopped down at Ranma once more. Fortunately, she rolled to the side, evading the blade, flipped back to her feet and jumped to the air to gain some distance. The girl whirled on Ranma and charged once more to meet Ranma where she landed. Akane, meanwhile pulled off to the side of the road to assess the situation.

"You no get away this time!" the girl yelled as she took several narrowly ineffective swipes at Ranma.

"Oh come on, Perfume, why can't we say you win and call it even?" Ranma asked desperately as she continued to dodge.

"QUIET!" Perfume yelled in anger jumping into the air and forcing Ranma to flip back to avoid another downward slice of her axe. As Ranma did so, however, Perfume managed to land directly behind her and readied for a finishing blow while Ranma was off balance. Fortunately, such did not come to pass as Akane interceded, blowing Ranma clear with a gust of wind, and placing herself between the two.

"Back off, Perfume, unless you want to get hurt!" Akane threatened as Ranma recovered behind her.

Perfume paused in surprise, examining Akane. "You, I remember you! You outsider girl who beat me many year ago. You want rematch?"

"No, not really," Akane replied then spoke over her shoulder. "Ranma, get out of here, I'll keep her busy."

"Right! Thanks Akane!" Ranma said quickly, and retreated. Perfume moved to pursue, but Akane blocked her path.

"Out of way!" Perfume ordered, but Akane remained firm.

"`Fraid not. You'll have to fight your way past me," Akane calmly responded. Perfume considered this, looking over Akane's shoulder to see Ranma had already left sight.

Perfume let out a growl of annoyance. "Fine, you win, this time. Next time you may no be there," she said, turned and walked away, retrieving her other axe as she went.

Akane sighed in relief. 'Those things have to weigh a ton and she uses two of them? Man... Better go find Ranma.'

XXXXX

It did not take long to find Ranma, as she had hid in a nearby alleyway. Back together the pair headed back to the nearby clinic. Once inside, Ranma quickly changed back to his male form, and dropped into a waiting room seat.

"So, she'll never find you huh," Akane said in a mocking tone.

"Oh shut up! This is serious!" Ranma exclaimed.

Akane nodded, changing tone to a more sympathetic one. "Yeah, I know it's serious. They didn't call it the Kiss of Death for nothing, you know."

"Oh man, what am I going to do? I never even thought that she might find me here," he said as he leaned back and looked at the ceiling.

"I'd say your only option is to avoid cold water for the rest of your life," Akane replied with a smile.

Ranma glared at her for a moment. "You're just loving this, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah," she said with a chuckle, but quickly stifled it and grew serious. "Maybe Soon Li or Shampoo know someway out of this situation. They know the laws much better than I do. Maybe there is a loop hole or something."

"I really hope so."

"And even if they don't, look on the bright side. At least the girl who's trying to kill you is cute," Akane teased.

"If you're trying to cheer me up it ain't working," Ranma replied with a frown.

XXXXX

It was about an hour later. Ranma, Akane, and Shampoo had come to the Nekohanten to meet with Soon Li. The Nekohanten was closed for the day, affording them privacy as Ranma related his tale of his encounter with Perfume. Gathered around one of the restaurant's tables, the others simply allowed Ranma to speak, until the events of earlier were finally reached.

"This situation is rather problematic," Soon Li commented.

Shampoo nodded in agreement. "Kiss of Death very strong promise of Amazon woman."

"I know that," Ranma said with a sigh, "but is there anyway to get her to go away."

Shampoo frowned. "You treat like something Amazon can forget about. Not like that."

"Shampoo is quite right. It is nearly unbreakable and I've never heard of any Amazon giving up, although to be fair, this rarely ever comes up. This is the first case I've actually heard of in my lifetime," Soon Li explain, gaining a slight hopeful look from Ranma. "Don't misinterpret, just because it is rarely ever used doesn't make it any less serious. In fact, it could easily be seen as more serious."

"I'm dead," Ranma said with a shake of his head.

"Perhaps not. There are a few ways that it can be rescinded," Soon Li said giving Ranma back his hope, and she started to think. "As I recall, the leader of the tribe can order you to rescind it."

"That's not likely to happen," Ranma pointed out.

Soon Li was forced to nod. "Quite true, but there are other ways. You're not a member of the Amazon tribe itself so there's no special consideration. Although... you can easily become one."

"Huh?" Ranma said in confusion.

"Akane and Shampoo are both Amazons, and you would become one as well as soon as you marry one of them," Soon Li explained with a smile, shocking the others. Pleased with her solution, she continued. "Well, that's settles it, I'll just have to book a hall, we can get this marriage going and-" Soon Li said, getting up, but Ranma moved to block her.

"Wait, wait, wait! I didn't say I'm marrying anyone!" Ranma blurt out, seemingly confusing the older Amazon.

"So stubborn, very well then, hmm," Soon Li conceded, returning to her seat, causing the others to relax. "Wait, we have an interesting situation with you. The Amazon law would conflict with itself if you beat her as a boy. She would have to both kill you and marry you."

"Which one would take precedence?" Akane asked.

Soon Li thought for a moment. "As I recall, it is your natural born form that is most important, unless a transformation is permanent. Perfume is familiar with the curses of Jusenkyo and seeing as how you're really a boy I would say that she'd have to obey that rule."

"Oh great, just what I need, a third potential wife!" Ranma exclaimed.

Soon Li shrugged. "I'm afraid that is how the rules works, yes. However your potential wives here are also considered Amazons so an internal challenge would be in order. I'm quite sure she'd step aside or they could defeat her."

"Who's says we'd want to?" Akane said in whisper to Shampoo.

"Of course you could skip all this nonsense by just choosing-" Soon Li started to say, but Ranma cut her off.

"Nono... I can handle it. So, since I already beat her-"

"No. You have to prove you can beat her as a man. Otherwise, you'll leave open the possibly of interpreting that the marriage law has yet to take effect. If you are to take this route, best not to take any chance they she might dispute such, especially as your male form is your only safety from her at the moment," Soon Li pointed out, gaining an agreeing nod from Ranma.

"Okay, fine, so how do I find her?"

"That's not a problem, she's upstairs sleeping at the moment," Soon Li answered calmly, once more shocking the others.

"WHAT?" Ranma, Akane and Shampoo all exclaimed in unison.

"Well, she came in earlier needing a place to stay. We do have a spare room here so I offered it to her," Soon Li replied with continued calm.

"Oh, just great! That means she'll know right where to find me at home! Just lovely!" Ranma said, but gained only an unconcerned shrug from Soon Li in response. "Oh well, I can beat her. Let's get her down here."

"Very well, I'll go waken her," Soon Li said.

XXXXX

Outside the Nekohanten, Ranma stood waiting with Akane and Shampoo. "Are you sure you can beat her?" Akane asked skeptically.

"Of course! I beat her with a single attack before," Ranma complained.

Akane nodded, but remained unconvinced. "Just don't go and do something stupid."

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were worried about me," Ranma shot back, angering Akane.

"Shut up Ranma!" she yelled just as Soon Li came out followed by Perfume.

Perfume looked around in confusion, pausing on Shampoo in half recognition before noticing Akane. "Where Ranma?" the Amazon demanded.

"Her, haven't the foggiest," Akane replied plainly.

"You lie," Perfume accused, but Akane remained unmoved.

"I do not. At this moment I have absolutely no idea where you could find a girl named Ranma," Akane replied with a smug smile, that only angered Perfume.

"I thought you say Ranma here?" Perfume asked, looking at Soon Li, but her answer came from a different source.

"I am," Ranma said, stepping forward.

Perfume blinked, examined Ranma for a moment in confusion, then shook her head. "You not Ranma."

"My name is Ranma Saotome," Ranma said only further confusing the girl.

"Girl Ranma related to you?" Perfume asked, closing with Ranma.

"You could say that," Ranma replied.

Perfume stepped back and huffed. "Hmm, too bad. I give her "Kiss of Death", now she die."

"Yeah, yeah, Perfume, the way I understand it, if I beat you, you have marry me, right?"

Perfume blinked in surprise, but nodded. "That true. You challenge Perfume?" she asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Ranma said, rather reluctantly.

Perfume's frown deepened. "Stupid boy, I fight and win," she said confidently as she and Ranma both took up combat postures.

"**I really wish he didn't have to do this,**" Akane said to Shampoo but only replied with an unintelligible murmur.

"I'm afraid it's the only way. By the way Akane, please speak in Japanese. It's the only way Shampoo's going to learn," Soon Li said, gaining a sigh and nod of acknowledgement from Akane.

"Alright Perfume, you ready?" Ranma asked.

"I always ready," Perfume replied with a glare.

Ranma stood ready for several seconds, waiting for Perfume to go on the attack, but unexpectedly she remained static. 'That's odd, she's always been so aggressive before,' he thought, but Perfume gave no hint of going on the attack. Finally, Ranma decided it best simply to go on the attack himself. Running in, he jumped into a kick, intending for Perfume to avoid but to be thrown off balance to give him an opening. However such did not occur.

For an instant, Ranma thought Perfume had simply froze, as she was not making any move to dodge or defend. Then, suddenly, she was safely clear of the attack, a battle axe now in hand. Fortunately for Ranma, rather than chop at him, she snagged his extended leg with the hook of her axe and pulled sharply, sending him straight into the wall of the Nekohanten.

After a moment of shock for Akane and Shampoo, Akane finally said, "Hey Ranma, I thought you said this would be easy."

"Oh be quiet," Ranma mumbled as he got to his feet.

'Why is she playing so defensive this time? Last time she charged in without waiting a second. And what is with this sudden speed? I couldn't even track her,' Ranma thought, but had no answers. After reassessing his approach, he ran in for another attack. The result was much the same, with Perfume seeming unconcerned to the last instant, then moving so quickly that Ranma could not hope to react. This time she jabbed him in the stomach with the tip of her weapon, and, using it as a pivot, tossed him overhead and into the ground.

Ranma persisted with another rush, this time guessing Perfume's tactic and intending to strike to the side to catch her. However, as if this switch was obvious, Perfume simply tripped him up this time, sending Ranma head first into the street wall.

"Alright, that's it! Now you're going to get it," Ranma said through a daze as he turned back to Perfume. However, by this point, Perfume was smiling with confidence and simple beckoned Ranma to attack. Frustrated, Ranma tossed out his usual playbook of trying to go easy on girls, and went in for a full assault. He let off a hail of punches and kicks, but much to his shock, not a single one got through, Perfume seemingly effortlessly anticipating and blocking them all. Finally, exhausted, Ranma fell back. "No way! I can't break through," Ranma said openly as he tried to catch his breath.

Perfume huffed in dismissal of Ranma, and flicked her weapon to the side. In response, the weapon collapsed in upon itself magically until Perfume could easily place the weapon up her wrist of her sleeve.

"Must be magical," Soon Li commented, otherwise seeming unconcerned.

"I end this, now!" Perfume said and rushed onto the attack. Ranma braced, but such proved useless as Perfume cried out, "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" and a barrage of punches slammed into him. An instant later, Ranma fell unconscious to the ground.

"Ranma!" Akane and Shampoo both exclaimed in concern, and rushed to his side.

"Ranma, wake up! Come on wake up you idiot!" Akane pleaded before Ranma let out a groan.

"Is he okay?" Shampoo asked.

"Yeah," Akane answered just as Ranma opened his eyes. "Ranma, you stupid jerk, you had me worried."

"Thanks for caring," Ranma muttered as he sat up.

Perfume looked at the boy coldly. "You lose. Now go, tell girl Ranma she soon die," she said before walking off, back into the restaurant.

XXXXX

That night Ranma, with several bandages on, sat looking at the pond at the Tendo house. Akane, Shampoo and Soon Li sat at the common room table, discussing the matter.

"This is unfortunate," Soon Li said calmly.

"Well I-" Akane started to say, but Ranma instantly cut her off.

"Don't even say it Akane. She fought differently this time, I mean totally different. She was no where near that fast. I just don't get it," Ranma said with a shake of his head.

"I see," Soon Li said and thought for a moment. "It has been my experience that many Amazons believe themselves superior to outsider women. Many get overconfident. It may have been luck that you defeated her that first time."

"Luck?" Ranma complained, looking over his shoulder.

"Not purely, but now that she's fighting intelligently you'll need some way of breaching her defences. Perfume used the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken."

Shampoo frowned. "Only my... Only Cologne family know technique. How Perfume learn?"

Soon Li nodded. "And few members at that. Perhaps Cologne has taken her on as a student. As I recall Perfume's family is loosely allied with Cologne's, and it isn't unheard of, although highly unusual. It really doesn't matter. Perfume knows it. She probably didn't use it in the original battle, that was the deciding factor."

"Kachu what? What is that?"

"Is speed technique. Very powerful," Shampoo explained. "Perfume seem know very well. Whole body is fast."

"A master of the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken has great speed and can block or dodge nearly any form of attack. She was using it defensively through most the fight. If you could defeat that technique I believe you would win again," Soon Li added.

"Okay, but how am I supposed to do that?" Ranma asked.

Soon Li thought for a moment. "The Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken is very fast, but not the fastest. I know of a faster technique."

"Grand Lightning Punch?" Shampoo asked and Soon Li nodded in confirmation.

Ranma's interest was peaked at hearing the name. "The Grand Lightning Punch? What's that?"

"It is a speed technique of the Lightning style. Shampoo was using it against Kodachi," Akane answered.

Ranma thought for a moment, remembering the last few moments of said fight. "That was the Grand Lightning Punch? That thing generated electricity and was so fast I couldn't even see it."

"Yep, that's it," Akane confirmed.

"If I knew that technique, I could beat Perfume easily," Ranma said as he contemplated.

"Unfortunately, it's not an easy technique to learn," Soon Li pointed out.

"Hey, my life is on the line here, I'll learn it even if it kills me!" Ranma said with confidence, gaining an amused shake of the head from Akane.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Akane joked, but Ranma ignored her.

"Of course, but we still have a fundamental problem. We need someone to teach it to you, and I don't have the time," Soon Li pointed out, deflating Ranma's hopes. However, after a second, Soon Li looked to Shampoo. "But Shampoo knows it. I'm sure she could teach it to you."

"Me?" Shampoo asked, and got a nod in response. "But-"

"I know you haven't taught anyone, Shampoo, but I'm sure you can do it."

Shampoo hesitated, casting a quick glance at Akane. "What about Akane? Akane could teach wind style-"

"While the wind style could allow Ranma to win the battle as well, it would take considerably longer to reach that point," Soon Li answered. "It is a defensive style, ill suited to attack. No, for this purpose, the Lightning style is far more appropriate."

"And like I'd want to teach this jerk anyway," Akane added.

"Hey!" Ranma complained.

Finally, Shampoo nodded in acceptance. "Okay."

"Good. It's late, you should start in the morning. Akane, since this is rather urgent, I'm afraid you'll have to cover for Shampoo for a while at the restaurant."

"That's fine," Akane replied.

XXXXX

The next morning Shampoo sat beside the Tendo pond. Akane and Ranma stood behind her. As they observed, Shampoo dropped several coins into the pond.

"Watch closely now. First Shampoo show you speed of Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken," Shampoo said. Concentrating for second, Shampoo raised her hand, and then plunged it into the water in a blur. The effect was immediate as the water parted with the force of the impact and whirled, but could not seem to fill the hole that was created. Less than a second later, the display ended as the water slowly returned to normal, and Shampoo presented the coins to the others, without a drop of water on her.

"That's pretty fast," Ranma commented.

Shampoo nodded, then once more dropped the coins in water. "Now, Shampoo show you speed of Grand Lightning Punch." She took a breath and in a sudden flash of movement the coins disappeared from the pond but the water was undisturbed. Shampoo opened her clenched fist to reveal the coins in her hand. Both the coins and her hand were perfectly dry.

Ranma stared at this in shock.

"Cute huh?" Akane commented at seeing Ranma face.

"That's... how...?" Ranma stuttered out.

"You want try?" Shampoo asked.

Ranma hesitated, but his ego quickly overwhelmed him. "Alright, step aside," he said. As requested, Shampoo got up and made room, dropping the coins once more into the water. Ranma took her place and concentrated. After taking a deep breath, Ranma stab his hand into the water at the first coin with a great splash of water. An instant later, a drenched female Ranma held the coin up. "I think I'll need more practice," she reluctantly admitted.

"And a steady stream of hot water," Akane added before heading off to the kitchen.

"So these are very similar techniques," Ranma thought aloud.

Shampoo frowned. "Same, if think steam engine and jet engine same. Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken much simpler."

"How so?" Ranma asked.

"You learn that as train," Shampoo replied as Akane returned with a kettle and a cup of tea, both of which she handed to Ranma.

"What's the tea for?" Ranma asked

"Drink," Shampoo directed. Obediently, Ranma returned to his male form, and drank the tea, Akane returning to the kitchen.

"Whoa, strong stuff," Ranma said as he finished. "Alright, what was that supposed to do?"

"You just started," Shampoo replied and a few seconds later Akane returned, this time with a full tray of tea cups, all filled.

Shampoo smiled deviously at Ranma. "Is very special blend. Caffeine, lots of caffeine."

"You got to be kidding! I got to drink all this?" Ranma exclaimed as Akane handed him the tray.

"This, and next tray, and next tray, and next-" Shampoo said.

"Hold it, how many trays are we talking here?"

"Hmm, 100, give/take 20," Shampoo responded, but then added, "per day."

"Per day?" Ranma exclaimed.

"Better get drinking Ranma or you'll be here all week," Akane said with a teasing smile of her own.

Ranma looked at the tray in despair. "Oh man, I got a bad feeling..."

XXXXX

Hours later, inside the Tendo dojo, Ranma was in the process of desperately dodging several oncoming bricks. However, despite his best efforts, one finally made it through and slammed him directly in the face, sending him toppling to the ground. Several seconds passed before he shook off the affect and sat up, glaring across the room at Shampoo, who was currently holding the next brick to be thrown.

"Couldn't we use something a little less painful?" Ranma asked through clenched teeth.

"Then not have as much incentive. How expect to beat Perfume if can no dodge?" Shampoo asked seriously.

"Give me a break-" Ranma started to complain, but Shampoo cut him off by tossing the next brick, forcing him to roll away to a escape, before flipping back to his feet. "Hey! You can at least wait until I'm ready!"

"Need get ready faster!" she replied with an frown. "If really no want use brick..." Shampoo continued, and rushed in. Ranma barely had time to mentally slap himself before Shampoo barraged him with punches. The assault was brief, sending Ranma crashing into the wall to slide to the floor in pain.

"Need more tea," Shampoo said with a disappointed sigh as Ranma moaned in pain.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep for a week," Ranma muttered.

"If lucky. Shampoo go get tea," the Amazon said before heading out.

"Maybe I should just let Perfume kill me, less painful that way," Ranma joked as he got himself to a proper sitting position. 'Still, I think it is starting to have an effect. That last attack, I could actually sense some of it,' he thought as Shampoo returned with a fresh tray of tea cups.

Now well practised in gulping down the elixir, Ranma quickly ran through the cups as Shampoo paused to look out at the sky. "Hey Shampoo, you know Perfume?"

"Shampoo know her," she replied.

"Is she normally so nuts?" Ranma asked.

Shampoo shrugged. "Would no know. Shampoo her enemy."

"Why's that?" Ranma asked in confusion, causing Shampoo to glance at him for a moment.

Turning back to the sky, Shampoo responded, "You remember story I tell, yes? She girl I fight before leave."

"Oh," Ranma commented with a bit of a cringe. "That was her?"

Shampoo nodded. "You finish?"

As she asked, Ranma gulped down the last bit of tea and looked at his quivering hand. He put it to his ear. "I think I hear a musical note," he joked.

"You not that fast yet," Shampoo said. "Now we try something new."

"New?" Ranma asked, turning to Shampoo just in time to see her up end a bucket over her head. His whole body tensed as he realized what was to come. Sure enough, Shampoo's cat form jumped out of her cloths, and seemed to smile at him evilly. "AHHHHHHHHH! THAT'S NO FAIR!" Ranma scream as he began running.

XXXXX

It was late the next day when Shampoo walked into the Nekohanten, a slightly annoyed, but at the same time slightly puzzled look on her face.

"Hey Shampoo... Where's Ranma?" Akane asked. Her answer came as the female Ranma came running down the street, screaming. A second behind her, Perfume was in hot pursuit.

"I KILL YOU!" Perfume yelled as she passed, swing her axe but missing.

"Oh," Akane said with a cringe. "Are you using her to train him?" Akane asked after a second.

Shampoo shook her head. "No, just unlucky, although is convenient," Shampoo joked.

"So, is the training going well?" Soon Li asked from the kitchen.

"Well enough. If he no get killed first he learn technique," Shampoo said as she headed to the kitchen. A moment later she returned with a kettle. "Bye bye," Shampoo said as she departed.

"Bye," Akane replied and watched as Shampoo headed off after Ranma. She continued to watch the open doorway for a long moment before returning to work.

XXXXX

Later that evening Akane walked into the Tendo home's kitchen where Kasumi was cooking. "Hello Akane," she greeted.

"Hi. Ah, so how's Ranma doing?" Akane asked.

"Quite well I think. They're in the dojo right now. Why don't you go and see?" Kasumi suggested.

Akane hesitated but finally answered, "Yeah, sure." Leaving the kitchen, Akane headed off to the dojo. As she approached she could already hear crashes every few seconds. It was not hard to guess who was on the receiving end. Just as Akane neared the door, Ranma came flying out the doorway, landing at the base of the steps in a barely controlled fall.

The boy groaned in pain before looking up to noticed the shocked Akane. "Oh, hi Akane."

"Uh... hi," Akane managed to reply before Shampoo came to the door and looked down at Ranma in disgust.

"You lay there all day or fight?" Shampoo asked in a harsh tone.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Ranma quickly replied. Shampoo huffed and returned inside, while Ranma got to his feet. "I'm going to get her," he said in determination before running back inside where the crashes quickly renewed.

Akane walked the remainder of the way to the door and peered inside. As expected, Ranma was on the defensive the whole time, taking barrage after barrage of attacks from Shampoo. Akane frowned in thought, and was so focused on the action in front of her that she only noticed Nabiki's approach at the last second.

"They're getting along well, aren't they?" Nabiki commented sarcastically as she too watched. As she did, Ranma was kicked into a wall, but stubbornly returned to the fight. Akane watched this tensely. "He's going to be lucky if he lives through the training," Nabiki continued but Akane still did not respond. "So, why do you think she's being so hard on him?"

"Huh?" Akane finally responded.

"Well, Soon Li was no where near this hard on Shampoo," Nabiki elaborated.

"We weren't exactly dodging any crazed Amazons at the time either," Akane pointed out. "He needs to learn it quickly."

Nabiki looked sceptical. "You know what I think? I think it's an act. I think she likes him, likes him alot."

"What? How does that work?" Akane asked.

"A bit of pride. A bit of denial. Should be obvious to a certain other party that feels the same way," Nabiki hinted.

Akane went wide eyed and whirled on Nabiki. "Are you saying I like that jerk?"

"You said it, not me," Nabiki replied as she turned and headed off.

Akane twitched for a second before chasing after her sister. "Hey, wait a sec!"

XXXXX

The next day, Ranma once more arrived at the dojo for another training session. 'Everything aches,' he thought in annoyance as he stepped inside. As usual, a tray was laid at the centre of the room, and Shampoo was waiting, looking outside at the sky once more. However, unusually, there was only a single cup on the tray. "Only one today?" Ranma asked as he approached the cup.

"You ready for next step. This different," Shampoo replied, turning to Ranma. "Drink."

Sighing, Ranma sat by the tray, and took a sip of the contents, and nearly choked. "Gah, what is this? Tastes like sewer water!"

"Trust Shampoo, you will want to drink," Shampoo replied in an usually solemn manner that gave Ranma pause.

Reluctantly Ranma took the advice and quickly swallowed the liquid, gagging a bit. As he recovered Shampoo walked to the centre of the room to be in front of him. "You know, to be honest, I don't feel that much faster," Ranma said and unexpectedly Shampoo nodded.

"First stage not about speed. That come next," Shampoo explained.

"Then what is it all about?" Ranma asked in some annoyance. In response, Shampoo put forth her hand, palm up, in request for the cup. Suspiciously, Ranma handed it to her, she nodded, and then punched at him. The speed of the attack was such that Ranma knew he could not dodge, but unexpectedly, the attack did not connect. Instead, she stopped just short of his face, with the cup in hand, and dropped it.

What Ranma witnessed after this startled him. As if the world had gone suddenly into slow motion, the cup seemed to hang in the air, only ever so slowly beginning its fall. For Ranma, several seconds seemed to pass, but he quickly realized that in fact, probably only a meagre fraction of a second had passed. Finally, the affect seemed to slip away and the cup began to speed up, Shampoo catching it at the last second.

"You see?" Shampoo asked, to which Ranma mutely nodded. Shampoo stood up straight and began explaining. "You say Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken same as Grand Lightning Punch. That no right. Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken just speed. Push body to natural limit. Grand Lightning Punch entire new way for mind and body to work. You mind now active enough to go to next part."

"And this only kicks in when I need it?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, is instinctive," Shampoo answered.

Ranma nodded in understanding. "So, now what? Don't tell me this next step is going take that long again."

Shampoo looked away for a moment. "No. Step two is quickest. Once mind go fast enough, just need make nerve and muscle work fast enough. Nerve actually too slow. Even Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken need improve with chi, but for Grand Lightning Punch even that no enough. Shampoo need supercharge your nerves."

Ranma thought on this for a moment, and sagged his shoulders. "Why do I have a feeling this is going to hurt?"

"Because is," Shampoo replied. "Drink is for pain. Unfortunately, still hurt... lots. Supercharged nerves cause all muscles to cramp. Until they get used to it..."

Ranma sighed. "And how long does that take?"

"Hour or so if lucky," Shampoo replied, looking back at Ranma. "You ready?"

"I don't suppose I can be unconscious during this?" Ranma asked, and gained a shake of the head from Shampoo. "Figures... well, let's get this over with," Ranma boldly declared.

Shampoo hesitated for a moment, looking Ranma in the eye before sighing herself and moving behind him. Rather than look, Ranma focused ahead as he heard Shampoo begin generating an electrical charge. A moment passed, and just as Ranma was about to ask what the hold up was, he felt Shampoo touch him at the base of his skull. An instant later, the world seemed to go insane. Every one of his senses flared, sensations intensifying, and blending into an incoherent mess. That quickly passed, only to be replaced with a moment of calm before the inevitable hit.

"GAHHH!" Ranma's scream of pain could be heard for blocks.

XXXXX

It was hours later when Ranma awoke. He was still laying on the floor of the dojo, a small pillow under his head. Looking around he quickly noticed Akane sitting next to him. "Back already?"

"It's nearly time for bed," Akane replied. "The treatment may only take an hour, but it exhausts you. You've been sleeping most the day."

Ranma tested his muscles, and confirming Akane, they felt stiff and fatigued, as if he had been active the whole day. "Man... where's Shampoo?"

"Inside getting a bath. She asked me to keep an eye on you," Akane answered as she grabbed a nearby thermos. She poured the contents into a cup and handed it to Ranma while also helping him to sit up. "Here, drink this. It helps a bit."

"Not more of that sewer water I hope," Ranma weakly joked before drinking it to find it to be a sweat chocolate blend.

"Lots of sugar," Akane said as Ranma finished off the drink, and she poured him another. "Helps re-energize the muscles, or so I'm told. Temporary of course."

"Of course," Ranma weakly echoed but did indeed feel some strength return. As a test, he stood up. That proving to work, he experimentally threw a few punches, then a few more, then faster, and faster. Finally he tried a sustained barrage. At first, he didn't feel any different, but then when a crackle of electricity started jumping down his arms, he stopped in shock and looked to Akane. "Was I just..."

"Yes," Akane replied. As Ranma tried it out a few more times, Akane's mind starting turning to other matters. However, try as she might to consider a way to start the conversation, she was coming up blank. Just as she finally opened her mouth to speak, Ranma let out a cry of pain.

"Dah! Cramp!" Ranma said and he shook out his arm.

"Careful!" Akane cautioned. "You just woke up. Your body isn't fully used to it yet either."

The pain subsiding, Ranma dismissively replied, "I'm fine."

"Just take it easy," Akane persisted. "You really are going to kill yourself trying to beat her."

Ranma glanced over at Akane with a teasing smile. "You really are worried about me."

Akane tensed. "I'm... I just... Ranma, you are such a jerk!" she quickly said, and before Ranma could say a thing, marched out of the dojo. 'Why does he always...' Akane growled in her mind as she returned to the house, not noticing the figure of Shampoo standing just around the corner of the dojo.

Back inside, Ranma shook his head, puzzled. "I don't get girls," he thought before turning and resuming his tests.

"Maybe try be less stupid," Shampoo said as she entered the dojo.

Ranma started at the Amazons sudden appearance. "I can't help it if she gets angry at the stupidest things," he tried to defend himself.

Shampoo rolled her eyes and shook her head. Rather than continue with that, she switched to other matters. "How feeling?"

Ranma relaxed a bit, and flexed his arms. "Not too bad. So, I'm ready to take on Perfume then?"

"No," Shampoo quickly said, confusing Ranma. "Is one last thing learn, control."

"Control? I can control this just fine," Ranma confidently said.

Shampoo shook her head and raised a hand with her palm facing Ranma. "Okay, punch hand."

With one last flex of his arms to ensure the cramps were fully clear, Ranma did as requested, or at least tried. The speed came easily, but much to Ranma chagrin, his accuracy was terrible. Despite his best efforts, he just could not bring his arm under control and found it consistently going off the mark by as much as a foot. After a couple hundred punches, he stopped. "What the hell?"

"Mind and body both now changed. You think using old ways will work? No."

"My arm wouldn't react," Ranma said to which Shampoo nodded.

"At this speed, it different. But is more than that. Raise hand," Shampoo commanded, and Ranma mirrored Shampoo's earlier action. Shampoo then replicated Ranma's feat. "You feel?"

"Your punches felt really light," Ranma said in puzzlement.

"Speed, no strength, this is core to Lightning style, Grand Lightning Punch most of all. Muscles work different when using," Shampoo explained.

"So, the individual punches have almost no impact," Ranma concluded and Shampoo nodded in confirmation.

"When fight Kodachi, Shampoo punch without control. It take nearly minute to knock her out. You can no do that. Your muscle still adapt, take many months use technique that long."

Ranma waved off further explanation. "Okay, okay, I get the point. Need the control to make it count. So, how do I get the control?"

"Come," Shampoo directed, and lead the way to the koi pond. When she pulled out the coins and dropped them into the water, her intention was obvious.

"Okay, I get it. Now, the coin grabbing," Ranma said, pushing Shampoo aside. The Amazon rolled her eyes at being interrupted, but said nothing as Ranma knelt down. She did, however, step back several feet.

As with several days prior, Ranma took in a deep breath and concentrated. Mustering all his new found speed, Ranma plunged his hand into the water, and promptly got soaked. The now female Ranma raised a hand in warning. "Don't say it! I'll get this. Just takes a few tries."

Behind Ranma, Shampoo shook her head in a mix of annoyance and amusement as three more times Ranma attempted to pull the coins from the water, and all three times got soaked in the attempt.

"This is impossible!" Ranma finally declared. "You can't punch through water without disturbing it!"

"Who said anything about no disturbing?" Shampoo asked as she walked back up, and pushed Ranma aside. Ranma opened her mouth to protest, but a quick glare from Shampoo silenced her. "Now watch," Shampoo ordered.

Defeated, Ranma stood aside and watched as Shampoo prepped herself. As she began her attack, instinctively Ranma's senses sped up to read the motion, and the reason for her failure became clear. An instant for any normal observer later, Shampoo handed the coins to Ranma, the water as still as it was before she began.

For a moment Ranma was speechless. "That's crazy," she finally said.

"Is no crazy. Move as fast as we do, water is like rock. You move correctly, you can move it like rock."

"And put it right back in place so fast that any normal person thinks nothing happened," Ranma concluded for her.

"Yes," Shampoo confirmed as she stood up. "But take much control. Is like rock but not. Still liquid. Use too much, too little speed, it no work. Miss by even fraction and no work," Shampoo explained. "Shampoo go get kettle and burner. You be here for while."

Ranma could not argue the point, and sighed as she realized it was going to be a long night.

XXXXX

Numerous hours later, Ranma fighting off his own fatigue, he was still at it. Improvement was slow to come. If he were to guess, he'd say the entire water content of the pond had washed over him at least once.

Shampoo had wisely chosen to observe from the walkway. However, despite all his failures, remembering back to her own training in this technique, comparatively Ranma was actually making good progress. She was quick to qualify such in her mind as being due more to the nature of her curse verses his than their relative talent.

As Ranma failed his latest attempt, Shampoo let out a yawn. She was not sure of the time, but it was certainly well passed the point she would normally sleep. "Ranma, is late-"

"Nono, I almost got it," Ranma replied without looking back, taking the recently heated kettle and pouring some of the water over herself to revert back to male form.

"You say that hour ago," Shampoo replied.

"You don't need to stay, I got this. Just a bit more."

Shampoo yawned once more and lay down on the walkway, using her arms as a pillow. "You need keep up speed. Remember, speed, no strength. Go too slow and protective layer begin break down."

Ranma nodded in understanding as he concentrated. 'She's right, I'm pulling back too much. Go too slow and the layer of electricity on my arms breaks down, not to mention the water starts acting like liquid again,' Ranma thought as he prepared for his next attempt, laying out the pattern of every movement in his mind ahead of time.

Shampoo's earlier demo had helped definitely, but even Ranma's early estimate of its difficulty seemed to have been too low. Getting his arms to strike specific locations was hard enough, but then having to do that with moving targets, and having to regulate his speed and force precisely jumped the complexity through the roof. Despite all this, he was close.

His arms rested, his mind tuned, he tried again. An instant later, he came back with the coins, but the water noticeably rippled with remnants of his force. 'Blast it,' Ranma cursed. 'Well, at least I'm dry this time.' Resetting Ranma tried several more times, but improvement was slow. 'Got to calm down,' Ranma self taunt as he shook away some sleepiness.

Renewing his focus, Ranma concentrated once more. 'This is it,' he psyched himself, and his arms flashed into motion. This time the motions were right on, the movements perfect, and as he finished the task, so was the result. As if nothing had happened, the water surface lay nearly still, only the usual light waves over its surface.

Momentarily, Ranma was sceptical of his own success, but after several more seconds passed with no after signs of the intrusion on the water, Ranma let out a cheer. "I did it! Yes! I did it! Hey Shampoo, I..." Ranma turned to the Amazon but fell silent at noticing her eyes closed, and her breathing even. 'I finally do it and she falls asleep, typical,' Ranma joked with himself and considered what to do. After a moment, he got up.

XXXXX

Upstairs, laying in her bed sleeplessly, Akane stared at the ceiling in thought. 'Is Nabiki right? I mean, I know she likes him a little but lo-. No, why would she treat him like that then? But she doesn't hate him, I know she doesn't. Then why?' she pondered. 'Maybe it's that law of hers? He's never beaten her,' she continued with a slight frown. 'I don't know, maybe.'

A quiet knock came from the door causing Akane to sit up. "Shampoo?"

"Can I come in?" Ranma asked from the other side.

A series of thoughts went through her head as Akane considered the request and the hour of the night. 'Don't be silly, Akane,' she thought as she shook away some of the more interesting scenarios. "I guess," she replied after several seconds.

Ranma opened the door and walked in carrying Shampoo who was still sleeping. "She fell asleep outside."

Akane blinked at the sight, wondering briefly if Ranma had considered Shampoo's reaction should she wake up in such a position. "Oh," she managed to say at last, prompting Ranma to continue on to Shampoo's bed and lay her down before turning to leave. "Did you do it yet?" Akane asked.

"Yep. Tomorrow, Perfume is in for it," Ranma replied over his shoulder. "Goodnight."

Akane followed Ranma to the door, but having nothing further to say, let him go and closed the door. She turned back to Shampoo to see the Amazon hugging her pillow.

"Raannn..." Shampoo mumbled as she slept, smiled and rubbed her head against the pillow.

Akane nearly broke into a smile of amusement at the sight, but the conflict of the underlying matter stopped her. She pulled the covers over Shampoo, sighed, and returned to her own bed. 'If Nabiki's right, where's that put us Shampoo? Do we start fighting over him,' Akane thought and frowned at herself. 'I can't believe I just said that. Maybe Nabiki's right about me too,' she thought with another sigh.

Finally closing her eyes, Akane managed to relax, and soon dozed off.

XXXXX

The next day Perfume sat on the wall outside the Nekohanten, thinking. 'That Boy Ranma keeps hiding the girl Ranma. Her smell is all over him. I'm sure of it. And what is with them having the same name?' she thought in annoyance. 'I really don't like him. Stupid arrogant jerk trying to force me to marry him! Would serve him right if I killed him... if he tries to pull that stunt again I will. And then the girl... she is soo going to get it!' she thought with an evil smile. Just then she noticed the approach of the male Ranma and Akane.

"Hey Perfume, I'm back and ready to challenge you again," Ranma arrogantly claimed, causing Perfume to twitch an eyebrow.

'That was quick,' she thought as she dropped down to the street to face him. "You challenge me again? You very stubborn, very stupid! This time I no be so easy on you!"

"Careful Ranma, she looks like she's out for blood this time," Akane cautioned in a whisper.

"No problem," Ranma replied and focused on this opponent. "Alright, let's go, Perfume."

'What is with this boy? Is he really that stupid,' Perfume thought in anger before drawing one of her battle axes.

Akane quickly moved to the side, catching a motion on the Nekohanten's rooftop. Looking up, she saw Shampoo in her cat form watch. She had declined to join them earlier, but evidently could not keep away. Before Akane could question the reasons for such, Perfume went on the attack.

Despite the considerable size and weight of her weapon, Perfume was swinging it like it was a small knife. The shift in tactics from the previous duel briefly unsettled Ranma, and kept him defensive, but he managed to stay clear of the weapon. Finally, Ranma managed to leap over Perfume and get behind her. This caught the Amazon by surprise, forcing her to blindly spin and slash at him, but he was ready. He ducked under the blade and swept Perfume's legs from under her. Perfume managed to recover, and flipped backwards to once more face off with Ranma.

'What is going on? He's a lot faster this time,' she thought with a growl. "I tired off this! Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken revised: Steel Storm!" Perfume called out, and combining the speed of the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken with her axe, she created a blur of blade slashes.

For Ranma, however, things appeared quite different. Instinct kicked in and his senses sped up to meet the challenge. What before had been a barely perceivable blur of motion now was plain and readable, slow even. 'What a difference,' Ranma thought in amazement as he went about diverting the blade from its planned path.

After a few seconds, Perfume ceased her attack in shock. Before she could consider her situation Ranma went on the offensive. Pouring on the speed, Ranma quickly moved to disarm her, and force her back to the wall. Unable to understand what was happening, Perfume quickly gave ground until she found Ranma pinning her arms to the wall. Before she could react, he quickly moved in close to block her from counterattacking with her legs. Instinctively she struggled against this, but she could not overwhelm Ranma's hold on her.

"I got you," Ranma declared. "Surrender."

Perfume considered her options, still shocked at the incredible turn of fortune from the last duel, however there were none. It took several more seconds of futile struggle for Perfume to finally concede. "I... yield. You win," she said in a very quiet voice, casting her eyes to the ground.

Ranma examined her for a second, but seeing the fight drained out of her, backed off. Free, Perfume slowly slid down the wall and sat on the ground, her eyes still directed down. The expression was enough to give Ranma pause, but he recovered and looked to Akane. "Can you get me some water?"

"Right," Akane replied with a nod, and headed inside the restaurant. She returned a moment later with a full bucket and handed it over.

"Perfume, hey!" Ranma said to gain the Amazon's attention.

"What you want?" she mumbled.

"I want you to watch," he replied.

Perfume reluctantly looked up and watched as Ranma poured the water on himself. As the transformation took hold, Perfume was even further shocked. "You girl Ranma," she said after a moment.

"Yeah. You've heard of the Jusenkyo springs right. Well I fell into the drown girl spring," Ranma explained.

"Drown girl?" Perfume exclaimed in sudden realization. "Then you real boy all time."

"Yeah, and the law says you have to marry him," Akane added. "You can't go around trying to kill him anymore."

Perfume looked between the two, and then nodded. "That what this all about?"

"Yeah," Ranma answered.

Perfume returned to her feet, once more looking to the ground. "Fine," she replied simply, and suddenly turned and began walking off.

"Uh..." Ranma said in uncertainty at the reaction. "So, that's that then?" he asked, looking back to Akane who could only shrug. "Uh, she looks a little upset? Should we-"

"No, I think we better let her be for now," Akane concluded.

Agreeing, Ranma turned away, and the pair headed home. As they did, Akane looked back at the roof to see Shampoo gone.

XXXX

Up the street a ways, Perfume looked around to confirm she was alone and finally let her frustration vent. "**Why does this always happen to me? My life is ruined! AHHHHHHH!**" she exclaimed then spun to the street wall and threw her fist right through it. A good four foot long section collapsed under the force. Unfortunately, it did not make her feel any better.

A new presence caused Perfume to look down the street to see a slightly familiar face approach. 'Her again, she was there when Ranma first challenged me,' Perfume thought in anger when the pieces fell into place. "Shampoo?" Perfume asked in surprise.

Shampoo nodded and asked, "**Feel better now?**"

"**What happened to your hair?**" is all Perfume could think to ask for a moment, causing Shampoo to look away self consciously.

"**Accident,**" Shampoo explained simply.

Perfume shook her head, dismissing that matter. "**Did you have something to do with this? How'd he beat me?**" she accused in renewed anger.

"**I taught him the Grand Lightning Punch,**" Shampoo answered honestly.

"**What?**" Perfume exclaimed in confusion, but quickly refocused. "**You did this on purpose, just to ruin my life, just like before!**"

Shampoo scowled. "**Before? I think you're confused. You were the one making my life miserable!**" Shampoo shot back.

"**Oh, give me a break. Everyone was doing that,**" Perfume replied dismissively.

"**Then what do you mean?**" Shampoo asked in annoyance.

"**You mock me Shampoo. How dare you go and humiliate me then take off like that! I couldn't prove to anybody that you had gotten better when you left. I haven't lived down that defeat even to this day. You even had to show everyone my weakness. They still laugh at me because of that!**"

Shampoo let out a sad laugh. "**Well now you know how I felt! You're lucky I don't punch you out again!**" Shampoo countered before pausing in confusion. "**Wait, weakness?**"

Perfume looked at Shampoo in surprise. "**What? You don't know?**" she asked, but Shampoo shook her head. "**Well, it's not important,**" she continued in a slightly relieved nervousness before renewing her anger. "**I still got a score to settle with you!**"

Shampoo began to tense for a fight, but then stopped. Shaking her head, she turned half away. "**Soon Li has taught me not to hold grudges, it only leads to more problems. What happened was years ago,**" she said. "**I don't know what happened, but... if me leaving did cause you trouble, I'm sorry I left like that, but I had to find a cure.**"

"**Sorry?**" Perfume echoed in surprise. "**You're not allowed to say you're sorry!**"

"**I'm not?**" Shampoo asked in confusion.

"**That's not fair! You can't do that to me! I want to be mad at you!**" Perfume said in growing confusion.

Shampoo was puzzled by the reaction herself, but pressed on. "**Sorry to disappoint you.**"

"**Stop apologizing!**" Perfume yelled and switched tactics. "**I bet you still turn into a little kitty-cat,**" she taunted.

Shampoo glared at Perfume in warning. "**I said I don't hold grudges. I didn't say I don't get angry. Remember I'm the one who taught Ranma. If you don't want a black eye you'd better shut up.**"

Perfume withdrew, realizing the recklessness of her action. "**Ah, no need for that,**" she quickly said. "**But, why'd you have to do that! Now you got some jerk to beat me! I'm going to have to marry him! This isn't fair!**" she said in a mix of anger and despair.

"**I don't understand, it's our law that-**" Shampoo started to say, but Perfume cut her off.

"**Yes I know the stupid law, it doesn't make me instantly fall in love with someone, especially some creep who doesn't care in the least for me. I don't want to be married to that type of guy!**" Perfume explained in anger.

Shampoo blinked and looked away. "**I never really thought about it. Guess you're right but don't over react. He's already engaged. He just has to choose between Akane or me.**"

Perfume tensed in new found hope. "**If he marries one of you two then I can officially step aside, YES!**" she happily concluded.

Shampoo shook her head in a mix of amusement and confusion at Perfume's reaction. "**I'm glad you're so pleased. Now, tell me, how did you learn the chestnut punch? That technique isn't in your family.**"

"**Yeah, Cologne's the one that taught me,**" Perfume replied.

"**Why?**"

"**Well since you left, I've become the village's best fighter. Obviously she thinks very highly of me,**" Perfume smugly replied before deflating a bit and adding, "**one of the few that does.**"

Shampoo looked down at the ground. "**I see,**" she said quietly before turning away and walking off.

"**I hope I didn't hurt the little kitty-cat feelings,**" Perfume said in parting, just quietly enough so that Shampoo would not hear. After she left sight, Perfume growled in frustration. 'How dare she apologize! This isn't fair! She can't do this to me!'

%End Chapter 6

Another chapter done. Added a new opening to this chapter, and a better explanation of the Grand Lightning Punch.

Of course this chapter introduces Perfume. She's become quite the popular OC. At least four other authors have used her (not to be confused with other Amazons who just happened to be named Perfume). In fact, she was not a part of the original story, at least not as one would expect. Originally, Perfume was Mousse, yes Mousse... don't ask. That version got obliterated. Perfume's change of character to something original was one of the prime reasons for such.


	8. Chapter 7

%Chapter 7

'I've been totally blind,' Ranma thought.

It was Sunday morning, and Shampoo and Akane were taking the free time to get in a sparring match. This also happened to be the first such sparring match Ranma had come to observe since learning the Grand Lightning Punch. While he had expected some new insight, the difference in the experience now was startling.

That which he had observed before seemed little more than irrelevancies in the fight. With the new speed of his senses, Ranma was picking up on what he could only term as the true nature of the battle between the two girls. Motions, attacks, and responses that were so fast that no normal observer could track them. Even with his new technique, Ranma was finding it taxing to keep up.

And, it was not just Shampoo as Ranma had earlier thought. Although she was certainly slower, Akane was nonetheless reacting with highly impressive levels of speed. Watching, Ranma could see how she would strategically create high pressure zones of air to gain distance, or outright block Shampoo's attacks. And any time that Shampoo slipped up, she could also lower the pressure, drawing Shampoo in for an opportune attack, or just in an attempt to throw her off balance.

'Even being able to read them like this, I still feel like I'm missing certain vital elements,' he thought as he analyzed the two girls. After several more seconds of intense observation, he was once more forced to rest his eyes as the strain on them was just too much. Unfortunately for his study, the match came to end before he could properly resume.

The two girls shared some quick words in Mandarin, before Ranma spoke up. "You two have been messing with me all along, haven't you?"

"Hmh?" Akane replied in some confusion.

"The sparring matches we've been having. You could have won any of them easily."

"Winning at sparring isn't the point," Akane replied, looking off to the side to hide her face.

"Uh-huh," Ranma muttered as he got to his feet. "So, when you going to teach me the next technique?" he asked Shampoo as the group headed in for breakfast.

"You no ready yet. You still can no use Grand Lightning technique long enough to learn next," Shampoo replied.

"I'm plenty ready," Ranma countered as they joined the rest of the family at the table.

Shampoo shook her head at Ranma's assertion, but turned to him with a playful smile. "Okay, if you no let Shampoo's next attack touch you, Shampoo teach."

"Alright," Ranma replied and set himself, but Shampoo turned away. 'Right, she is just trying to get me drop my guard,' he thought as he continued to watch her closely.

Joining the group last, Soon Li entered and set out the food. "Oh, I have good news," she said as she sat down. "Perfume finally came out of her room last night."

"Stopped sulking, did she?" Nabiki asked.

"Mostly. She said she will be staying for the time being, and I convinced her to take some shifts at the Nekohanten. That should give you both some more free time," Soon Li said.

"She- Ow!" Ranma started to ask but found Shampoo had suddenly flicked his forehead with her finger. "Damn it, that wasn't fair!"

"Was perfectly fair," Shampoo replied evenly, to which Ranma huffed in momentary defeat.

'How the heck did she do it?' Ranma asked himself, but with no easy answer, switched back to Perfume. "She still mad at me?" he asked Soon Li.

Soon Li chuckled at Ranma's annoyance before answering, "Yes, although she shouldn't be trying to kill you. Just don't be asking her on any dates, she may get the wrong idea."

"Yeah, that ain't happening," Ranma said.

"Speaking of dates, son," Soun said, making Ranma Shampoo and Akane all tense.

"Look at the time," Akane quickly said and began rushing through her food.

Beside her, Shampoo took the hint and likewise began hurrying through her meal. "Yes, we meet friends today."

Grabbing up the last bit of food as she stood, Akane waved good bye, quickly followed by Shampoo and the pair darted out, leaving the family watching them go suspiciously. Finally, Soun cleared his throat and continued eating, saying, "I suppose it can wait for another day."

The rest of the meal went uneventfully, and everyone went their separate ways, save Ranma who was still perplexed, and Soon Li who was cleaning up. Soon Li smiled at his confusion, and gestured for him to look at her. Not saying a word, she simply very deliberately blinked at him, then once more smiled.

The clue was enough, as Ranma sunk his shoulders. 'She just waited till I blinked. At these speeds, a blink is an eternity of time when I'm blind,' he thought with a sigh. "Thanks," he said as he stood up. "I assume there is a way to deal with that?"

"Oh yes, but you'll have to ask her. Don't push too fast though, you still need more time before you're ready for further training," Soon Li replied.

Giving into defeat for the day, Ranma reluctantly nodded, and headed off.

XXXXX

A short time later, Akane ran into the local sports and recreation center to escape the rain outside. "Stupid weather man! Sunny and warm with clear skies, he said. I knew we shouldn't have rushed out," she commented as she looked down into her arms where Shampoo, now in cat form, lay along with her now thoroughly wet clothes. "Yeah, lots of sun," Akane said sarcastically as she looked back outside.

Looking back at Shampoo, Akane said, "Sorry about this." Shampoo responded with a shrug. "Don't worry, just need... oh shoot..." Akane started to say, but seeing their friends approached was cut short.

"Hey Akane, see you got soaked," Yuka commented as they came up. "Where's Shampoo? I thought she was coming too?"

"Ahh, she couldn't make it," Akane lied, quickly adding. "She might make it later."

Next to them, Sayuri nodded in understanding before noticing Akane's cargo. "Oh, you brought Scratch along!" she gushed as she smiled and bent down to look at the cat. "Gee, she's waterlogged. I'll get a towel."

"Thanks," Akane replied. "Didn't really mean to bring her. She got caught up in the rain."

"Say no more," Sayuri said in understanding before heading off. Yuka motioned for Akane to follow and the two headed over to a table near the side of a skating rink. Sayuri soon joined them with the promised towel. As Akane aided Shampoo in drying herself, the girls began to talk.

"So, what's happening?" Akane asked.

"We heard that the Golden Pair might be practicing here today," Sayuri answered, only puzzling Akane.

"The who?" Akane asked.

Yuka scanned the rink quickly. "They're the undefeated champions of martial arts paired figure skating from Kolholz high."

"Martial arts figure skating?" Akane remarked in amazement. "Geez, they manage to throw martial arts into anything, don't they."

"I heard Mikado is a real hunk," Sayuri said as she too scanned the rink.

Yuka chuckled, and countered, "I heard he's a pervert."

"Isn't Kolholz where all those snobs and weirdos go?" Akane asked.

Yuka shrugged. "Maybe, but hey, we got our share of snobs and weirdos at Furinkan. Look at Kuno, he still claims that Ranma's a girl."

Akane let out a bit of a strained chuckle as she finished drying off Shampoo, leaving the transformed Amazon on the table as they continued talking.

"Speaking of Ranma," Sayuri said, quickly turning her full attention to Akane, "when is he going to choose one of you two, anyway?"

Akane shied back from the attention. "I don't know, when he's ready I guess and god only knows when that will be."

"Do you like the guy?" Yuka asked, likewise focusing on Akane.

"Me? Well, I, he's, well..." Akane fumbled as nervousness took hold.

"She likes him," Sayuri confidently concluded.

"I didn't say that!" Akane protested.

Yuka shook her head in disbelief. "Oh come on Akane, Ranma seems like an okay guy."

Akane frowned. "You don't have to live with him."

"Well, who do you think he's going to choose?" Sayuri asked, causing Akane to ponder for a moment.

"I... I don't really know," Akane answered honestly.

Sayuri pressed on. "What about Shampoo? Does she like him?"

Akane involuntarily cast a glance down at Shampoo, but the cat did not return the look. "Um... I don't know. You'd have to ask her."

Yuka sighed and decided to change topics. "So, when is the Golden Pair supposed to get here?"

"Don't know," Sayuri replied. "I just got the date, not the time. Say, do you want go skating while we wait?"

"Sounds good to me. Akane?" Yuka asked.

"Ahhh..." Akane said in hesitation as she looked once more at Shampoo. This time the cat did look up and subtly gestured for Akane to go. "I guess Scratch will be all right. Let's go," Akane replied.

Shampoo watched the three girls head off to get some skates, and settled in. Although she could attempt to change back, without Akane's help it was unlikely to go unnoticed in the crowded surroundings, especially given the only source of hot water was the bath house that was typically packed the whole day. Shampoo let out her own sigh and laid down, already planning in her head how she would deflect the same inquiries she would inevitably receive when next encountering Yuka and Sayuri.

After the three girls headed onto the ice, a new pair entered the building. One was a taller teenager with short brown hair, already scanning the crown as if hunting for prey. Beside him was a similarly aged girl with long light brown hair who seemed cheerful and likewise looked around, but more like a child would, looking for the most interesting toy. When her eyes fell on Shampoo her eyes immediately went wide with delight.

It was some time later when Akane was passing by the edge of the rink that she noticed Shampoo's absence. "Where did she go?" Akane openly wondered as she looked around, but saw no signs of the cat.

XXXXX

Later at the Nekohanten, Ranma was talking with his two friends from school. Like with Akane, the topic had turned to his love life, although with a slightly different angle. "No way! I want nothing to do with that crazy girl!" Ranma said defiantly.

"Come on man, be a pal. You got Shampoo and Akane all to yourself!" Hiroshi pointed out.

"Yeah, you don't need that pigtailed girl too," Daisuke added.

Ranma cringed before shooting back, "You guys are nuts!"

Daisuke remained resolute. "No fair Ranma! Come on, give her to me!"

Ranma buried his face in his hand for a second to hide his frustration. "Now look here, I'm-" he began to say just as Akane came rushing in.

"Ranma!" Akane exclaimed in a near panic.

Ranma turned to Akane, noticing her friends quickly following behind her. "What's wrong Akane?" he asked in reflexive concern at seeing Akane's expression.

"It's Sham... I mean Scratch, I... I can't find her anywhere!" Akane blurt out.

Ranma puzzled over this for a second, the name being unfamiliar, but quickly concluded correctly the true identity of the person being sought. "I'm sure she's fine. She can take care of herself," he responded in dismissal but Akane persisted.

"You don't understand! She was kidnapped!" Akane nearly shouted in frustration.

"You sure?" Ranma asked.

"Akane's right," Yuka said in response. "Some people at the sports center even saw this girl take off with her."

Ranma nodded, but just as he was about to set in motion, the pair from the center walked into the restaurant, Shampoo's cat form clearly in the girl's arms, but apparently unconscious. "Ahh, I think I found her," Ranma said, pointing behind the girls as the newcomers.

Akane spun around and saw the girl and Shampoo. Instantly, panic turned to anger. "Hey!" Akane yelled as she rushed over, and tried to take Shampoo from the girl. Unfortunately, the girl was quick to react, and turned away, shielding Shampoo from Akane with her body. The sudden motion, however, did seem to have the affect of jostling Shampoo back to consciousness, and the cat soon started to struggle.

"Go away! Who are you? You can't have Azusa's little Charlotte!" the girl said as Akane tried once more to get Shampoo.

"What? She's not yours! Come on, give her back right now or I'll-" Akane yelled back in a fury, but was cut short when the unnoticed boy suddenly took the cat away from Azusa and handed it to Akane with a smile.

"I believe this is yours," he said.

"Ahhh, thanks," Akane replied as she accepted Shampoo back.

This did not go well with Azusa. The girl quickly turned on her partner. "Hey! Give Azusa back her Charlotte!" she demanded, but the boy ignored her.

"Please accept my apologies," he said to Akane.

"Oh, it's okay," Akane replied, feeling uneasy under the boy's gaze.

Azusa, apparently annoyed at being forgotten, started hitting the boy on the head with her fist, all the while repeating, "Charlotte!"

Despite this, the boy seemed unfazed and continued to focus on Akane. "You see, she has this annoying habit of taking things she thinks are cute, even if they aren't hers," he explained as Azusa moved onto using a small pan to hit the boy. "Then she'll give it a silly French name and take it home with her," he concluded as Azusa dropped the pan and switched to a nearby chair for a weapon.

"Isn't that illegal?" Hiroshi asked just as Soon Li came out into the dining room to see what all the commotion was about.

Immediately the Amazon's attention turned to Azusa who was continuing to batter her partner with the chair. "Miss, my furniture isn't to be used in that way," Soon Li said sternly, giving the girl pause. However, this was brief as Soon Li handed the girl a large mace. "Here use this. It's much more effective."

"Thank you," Azusa said with a gleeful smile and accepted the weapon. It was soon turned on the boy as she continued her chant of, "Charlotte! Charlotte! Charlotte!"

Finally, the boy was unable to continue his demeanor and turned on Azusa in anger, grabbing the mace to stop her in mid strike. "Stop it already! You have made your point!" he exclaimed, causing the girl to begin to tear up.

"But Azusa wants her Charlotte!" Azusa started to cry, but seeing no sympathy coming her way, she quickly hardened and turned on Akane. "If you won't give Charlotte back then Azusa challenges you!"

"What? You want to fight me?" Akane asked in confusion.

"Don't be so tacky, Azusa is taking about figure skating. You do know how to skate don't you? If Azusa wins you give her back her Charlotte," Azusa explained.

Yuka, who had been pondering the situation since the pair's arrival finally came to a realization. "Hey wait a minute, isn't he Mikado?" she asked, pointing to the boy.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Sayuri confirmed.

Fixing his hair quickly, the boy nodded. "Yes it's true, I am Mikado Sanzenin. And this is my partner Azusa Shiratori."

Akane ignored the introductions and simply replied, "No way! You can forget your stupid challenge! She's not your cat so you'll have to go through me if you want her!"

"Why you-" Azusa started to say, but Mikado pushed her aside to once more address Akane.

"Of course you're right. It is your pet after all. Can you find in your heart to forgive my partner's rudeness? As a token of my apology..." Mikado said, and before Akane could truly react, he gently embraced her head. His intention obvious, Akane grew angry, but once more was unable to react. Just as the boy moved in for a kiss, Ranma placed a single finger on his forehead and leaned into it, forcing Mikado back.

"You got some nerve pal," Ranma said with a scowl.

Mikado released Akane and calmly turned his attention to Ranma. "So, is this a challenge?"

"If you-" Ranma began to say but suddenly yelped and doubled over from an elbow to the abdomen courtesy of Akane.

"No it's not," Akane said, but gave Mikado a threatening glare nonetheless.

Mikado assessed the situation for a second, then nodded. "I see. Well until we meet again, miss...?"

"Akane Tendo," Akane answered.

"Ahh, Akane Tendo. Well then, farewell," he said, bowing slightly before turning and leaving.

Azusa looked between him, Akane and Shampoo in confusion. "But, but..." she fumbled, before finally turning to Shampoo. "Don't worry darling Charlotte, Azusa will get you back," she declared.

"Not while I'm alive," Akane replied harshly.

Azusa sniffed is dismissal of Akane, and quickly ran after her partner.

XXXXX

Still rubbing his abdomen, Ranma looked at Akane in annoyance as the threesome, Shampoo now once more human, headed home. "What'd you hit me for Akane?"

"You had no right to challenge him, especially when Shampoo was at risk," Akane said.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that," Ranma said apologetically, but after a moment, got annoyed once more. "Hey, it isn't like you didn't do the same."

Shampoo winced. "That was different!" she suddenly exclaimed, gaining an unamused look from Ranma. However, Akane broke the mood by laughing.

"I think he's got you there, Shampoo," Akane said through giggles. "You alright?"

Shampoo rubbed her head, but nodded. "Just have bump on head. That girl crazy! More crazy than Kodachi!"

Ranma looked to Akane. "So what are you going to do about this girl?"

"I don't know, but I'm definitely not getting into some stupid martial arts figure skating match," Akane replied.

"Martial arts? You could easily beat that girl!" Ranma said with confidence, but Akane did not mirror his optimism.

"No I couldn't. Do you know how out of practice I am at skating? It never really was one of my finer points. Beyond that, half my wind techniques won't work properly on ice, not enough traction," Akane explained.

"Oh," Ranma said in realization.

Akane frowned, and continued, saying, "By the way, stay out of my business. I could handle that guy."

Ranma waved off the comment. "Sure, whatever. Just don't get the idea that I'm jealous of you or nothing."

"Whatever would give me that idea?" Akane asked.

"Suave guys like him give me the creeps, that's all," Ranma responded, causing Akane to huff.

Having fallen back a few paces, Shampoo looked between the two squabbling teenagers, before sighing and looking to the ground.

XXXXX

When the threesome arrived home, they were in for a surprise greeting from Ryoga, having finally found his way back sometime earlier in the day. They were just finished telling him about the excitement of the day when they came to the common room, where Genma, in his panda form, Nabiki and Kasumi were gathered in preparation for dinner.

"Don't worry Akane, if this girl challenges you again, I'll skate with you," Ryoga confidently offered.

"You? You wouldn't stand a chance Ryoga!" Ranma countered, gaining the other boy's ire.

"Shut up, Ranma! I'm a hundred times the skater you are!" Ryoga angrily shot back.

Ranma shook his head. "In your dreams! I could skate circles around you!"

"Why don't you back up your words with some action?"

"No problem, tomorrow, at the rink, we'll see who's better," Ranma replied.

Akane sighed. "Would you two give it up! I'm not accepting any challenges from her, okay?"

"Let them go for it Akane or you'll never hear the end of it," Nabiki said from the side.

Akane looked between the boys who are staring at each other challengingly. "Okay, fine, if you two want to make fools of yourselves then it's fine by me."

"We'll see who looks foolish," Ryoga said, and chuckled menacingly.

"Yeah, we'll see," Ranma replied, chuckling with equal menace.

XXXXX

The next day back at the skating rink, Ryoga and Ranma stood next to the rink entrance with Akane watching from the ice and Shampoo watching from a nearby table. With their attitudes unchanged for the previous day, even still chucking maniacally, they said together, "Let's go!" Both stepped onto the ice and promptly fell on their faces.

"Oh yeah, great skaters," Akane sarcastically commented with a shake of her head.

"You both fools," Shampoo said plainly as the boys tried unsuccessfully to recover.

XXXXX

Sometime later Shampoo sipped at a drink at the table while watching Ranma crash into the rink boards. Ranma struggled to reach his feet, using the boards for support. He slipped and slid his way along the boards until he at last stepped off the ice and walked over to the table and sat down with a sigh.

"You very stupid Ranma. Why say can skate when cannot?" Shampoo asked.

Ranma frowned and answered, "Ryoga was annoying me."

"Must always be so arrogant?" she asked with a frown of her own.

"I am not arrogant, just very confident," Ranma countered. Shampoo tried to hold a straight face but could only barely stifle laughing at this. "Well, I don't see you out there skating," Ranma pointed out.

Shampoo looked to the rink but shook her head. "Shampoo know how skate, just no very good."

Ranma likewise turned his attention to the ice to see Ryoga crash into the ice in front Akane. She giggled then helped him to his feet. Ranma watched this with a scowl. "What's he think he's doing? Mmmmm."

Ranma got back up and stepped unsteadily back onto the ice. He turned to Shampoo and asked, "Why don't you come out? It's not like we'll show you up."

"Shampoo prefer watch you make fool of self," she answered.

"Thanks for the vote of convince," Ranma said in mind annoyance before heading off towards Akane and Ryoga, nearly falling to the ice several times.

Shampoo watched as Ranma and Ryoga proceeded to get into an argument while Akane tried to mediate. Shampoo looked down at her drink and stared at it for a minute before having an unexpected guest.

"Nihao," Perfume greeted as she took a seat opposite Shampoo.

"**What are you doing here Perfume?**" Shampoo asked with a frown.

"**Just come to annoy you,**" Perfume replied with a teasing smile. Shampoo did not rise to the bait though, instead simply looking down at her drink. "**Actually...**" Perfume started, took a long pause, then said, "**I meant to say, I'm sorry.**" The unexpected apology caused Shampoo to look up at Perfume in surprise. "**You were right, I was over reacting. I'm still not too impressed about you leaving like that, but you did apologize,**" she continue, grudgingly adding, "**and I suppose I deserved it.**"

To be honest, Shampoo had always questioned Soon Li's policy of forgiveness. To date, every time she had done so, the individual in question would simply continue as they had, sometimes even exploiting such. Perfume's apology was the first time she could recall anyone returning the feeling.

As Shampoo pondered this, Perfume grew anxious and turned her full attention to Shampoo. "**So this engagement thing, between you two and Ranma, it's a sure thing, right?**" she asked in concern.

Shampoo stifled a laugh. "**Don't worry, I'm sure Ranma has no intention of forcing you into a marriage. Whether the engagement is a sure thing is still up in the air.**"

Perfume eased a bit at this. "**You better be right. By the way, how did Ranma beat you and Akane? Did he surprise-**"

"**He didn't beat us,**" Shampoo cut in to answer, surprising Perfume. "**It's an arranged marriage.**"

Perfume was even further shocked by this. "**That's not Amazon law. I can understand that outsider Akane going along with it, but you? I always thought you were wanted to be a model Amazon.**"

Shampoo huffed in annoyance. "**Like I care about those stupid laws. They never got me anything good so why should I obey them? Besides, it's not like I really have to now. I don't really care what the others at the village think of me.**"

"**Yeah, I noticed. That hairdo would be a real laugh on you,**" Perfume said with a teasing smile, causing Shampoo to frown. "**You've changed quite a bit Shampoo. To think you were once being trained by Cologne.**"

Shampoo soured at the mention of her Great grandmother. "**Please don't talk about her. She obviously never really cared about me.**"

"**I wouldn't say that,**" Perfume unexpectedly said prompting Shampoo to give Perfume a demanding look. "**You haven't been around the village. It's hell. She's getting on everybody's case. Nit-picking and pushing everyone to the breaking point, especially me,**" Perfume explained with a sigh.

"**I thought you said she was training you,**" Shampoo said in confusion.

"**That's what she calls it. She's been driving me into the ground ever since my parents sent me to train with her four years ago. Every time I turn around or try to relax she's giving me some new test or something,**" Perfume said, looking truly drained by merely thinking about it. "**To tell the truth, I somewhat let Ranma beat me back at the village. It gave me an excuse to get out of there.**"

Shampoo blinked in surprise. "**We were wondering about that. You threw the fight?**"

"**Yeah, wasn't hard. First kick she threw, I just grabbed it and made it look like she hit me, and fell off the log. Dope didn't even realize,**" Perfume said with a smile.

"**And all the that talk about killing him? You always stopped just short. You're fast enough that he didn't notice, but I did. You never had any intention of killing him, did you?**" Shampoo asked.

Perfume shook her head. "**When he was a she, no,**" she said.

Shampoo frowned, not missing the inference, but let it slide. "**Then why the deception? You had him scared half to death,**" Shampoo inquired with a frown.

"**Because she ticked me off. Every time I tried to talk with her... oh never mind. Anyway, I just figured I'd chase her far enough away that I wouldn't have to go back. Problem is, every time I stopped, Cologne would contact me asking about my progress. I swear she's stalking me,**" Perfume explained with a shiver. "**Even Japan doesn't seem far enough, but so far I haven't heard from her.**"

Mention of Cologne once again turned Shampoo's mind back. "**Does sound rather... odd for her,**" Shampoo said after a moment, and looked back to the ice. There Ranma was once more flat on his face. Akane tried to help him up, but he managed to instead pull her down on top of him, which naturally resulted in a brief bit of bickering between the pair.

Perfume studied Shampoo for a moment. "**If you like the guy why aren't you out there fighting for him?**"

Shampoo looked to Perfume in surprise, but quickly shook her head. "**None of your business.**"

"**Oh come on, you're not going to let that outsider get him are-**" Perfume started to argue but Shampoo cut her off.

"**If you keep calling her an outsider I'm going to punch you out,**" Shampoo threatened

Perfume frowned in confusion. "**How could you possibly like her?**" she asked, but received only an angry glare in response. "**Okay, okay, okay, I take it back,**" she said quickly to defuse the situation, prompting Shampoo to once more look out to the ice. "**You make absolutely no sense to me. You won't fight for this guy. This is like when you had Mousse right there, totally willing and you go and clobber him every time. I mean, I can understand you not liking him now, but-**"

"**Who said I didn't like him?**" Shampoo unexpectedly asked.

Perfume puzzled at this, "**You mean you still do, even after he got you cursed?**"

Shampoo saddened at the memory. "**He was just being his usual idiotic self. Granted, next time I see him I'll slug him, but that's it,**" she said.

"**Then why didn't you go for him? I'd die for a guy who'd paid that much attention to me... well, not him in particular, but-**"

"**We were just friends. He just thought that meant we should get married. He always was a twit,**" Shampoo said and shook her head.

"**Then Ranma's just a friend?**" Perfume asked, but Shampoo remained silent. "**Fine, don't answer me,**" she said in annoyance.

A moment passed in silence between the pair before a new visitor arrived. "Well, what do we have here? Two beautiful young ladies with no one to accompany them," Mikado said as she walked up. "Allow me to join you."

Shampoo frowned at seeing Azusa's partner, but quite unexpectedly, Perfume was instantly enthralled. "Okay," Perfume said dreamily.

Taking the invitation, Mikado took a seat between the two girls. "Mikado? What you do here?" Shampoo asked.

Mikado turned to Shampoo, looking puzzled and leaned in. Something in the look briefly stunned Shampoo, allowing him to take her gently by the chin and examine her at extreme close range. "That's funny, have we met before? Well now, this is very peculiar, I never forget a face."

Finally, Shampoo regained her senses, and swatted away his hand. "You touch Shampoo again, Shampoo give fist in face," she threatened causing the boy to calmly withdraw.

"Forgive me, I sometimes forget it takes time for some to overcome their shyness," he said causing Shampoo to look disgusted. However, he ignored this, and turned back to Perfume, who was still completely entranced. "I am Mikado Sanzenin, and your name would be, miss?"

"Perfume," she answered, gazing into his eyes.

Mikado took Perfume's hand and looked seductively into her eyes. "A lovely name for such a lovely young woman," he said causing her to sigh in contentment.

'You're kinding me, she likes this guy?' Shampoo thought in a mix of disgust and confusion. "**Oh spare me!**" she finally blurt out.

Perfume's look broke for an instant and she glared at Shampoo. "**Go away!**" she said quickly before refocusing on Mikado.

"**You don't actually buy this garbage do-**" Shampoo began to ask, but was stopped short when Perfume grabbed up Shampoo's drink and tossed it at her.

"**I said go away!**" Perfume said in annoyance before once more turning back to Mikado.

Mikado turned to look at where Shampoo was in confusion, but she appeared to be gone. "Where did the other young lady go?"

"She have go suddenly," Perfume lied.

"That is unfortunate," Mikado said, but quickly dismissed the matter and turned back to Perfume with pleasing smile, "but it does leave us two alone to talk..."

Shampoo, now in cat form, shook off her clothes and dropped to the ground before looking at the pair in anger. However, her anger quickly diminished to mere annoyance and she turned to the ice rink. 'I'll have to get to Akane,' she thought as she jumped up onto the rink wall and looked around. Akane was unfortunately otherwise distracted and did not notice the cat, forcing Shampoo to consider crossing the ice. Finding an open path, Shampoo dropped down onto the ice, and slowly made her way towards Akane. However, her journey was interrupted by a familiar voice from behind.

"Charlotte!" Azusa excitedly exclaimed.

Shampoo started at hearing the girl, and looked behind her to see Azusa rushing her way. 'Not her again!' Shampoo thought and scrambled to cross the remaining distance.

The call had not gone unnoticed by the others. Akane, helping Ryoga stand, turned to see what was happening, but having her attention waver caused her to collapse along with Ryoga and get tied up. Ranma too noticed, and turned to look, first spotting Azusa then looked down to see Shampoo a few feet away. The result was immediate as he jumped into the air in fright, crashed to the ice on landing, and began crawling quickly away.

"Wait Charlotte!" Azusa called once again as she closed the gab, snatching up Shampoo despite her best attempt to dodge such.

"Hey!" Akane yelled as she struggled to get back to her feet.

"Here Charlotte, Azusa has a present for you," Azusa said, continuing to hold Shampoo despite her struggles.

Finally Akane got to her feet, rushed over and snatched Shampoo back from the girl. However, when she did, she noticed Shampoo pulling futility at a pink metal collar with the name Charlotte on it. "What is this?" Akane asked and tried to remove it. "Don't worry, I'll get it off," Akane said, but the collar held firm.

After several seconds, Akane noticed Azusa waving a key in front of her, tauntingly. "Oh no, Azusa locked it with her little key. Do you want it?"

"Why you little... Gimme that!" Akane growled, and tried to grab the key, but Azusa evaded and slipped it into her blouse.

"Nawdy, nawdy, nawdy," Azusa scolded, only further angering Akane. "This is Azusa's little key, you can't have it."

"You can keep your stupid key, just take this off of her!" Akane demanded, but Azusa merely smiled.

"Azusa doesn't want to," she said with crossed arms, infuriating Akane. "You keep Charlotte, Azusa keeps the key. But, Azusa will make you a deal. Next week at Kolholz High school we'll have a skating match. If you win, Azusa gives you the key. If you lose, you give Azusa back her Charlotte."

It took every ounce of Akane's self control not to attack at that very moment. However, better sense won out and she her restrained herself to an angry growl.

Seeing this, Azusa smiled and started to skate off to where Mikado was now kissing Perfume. Looking behind her, she added. "Oh yeah, Mikado said to bring that young man along too. Us against you two." Arriving at rink side, she jumped off the ice. "Come on Micky, we have to go," she said as she started to depart.

Mikado finished his kiss of Perfume, leaving her stunned. "Sorry my lovely, I must be going, but I'm sure we'll meet again."

"Uhhuh," she murmured with a smile.

XXXXX

Later that day in the common room of the Tendo home, Soon Li, Ryoga and Akane watched as Ranma filed away furiously at the collar around Shampoo's now human neck. Suddenly the snap of metal was heard, unfortunately it was the file.

"Damn! That's one tough collar!" Ranma said as he tossed the broken tool into a small pile of other likewise broken and dulled cutting implements. "Not even a scratch!" he said as he examined the collar more closely.

"What is that thing made out of?" Akane asked in frustration.

"I suspect the materials are irrelevant," Soon Li said as she too examined it. "I believe it to have some magical properties. Otherwise, it would not have re-sized for Shampoo's human form so perfectly," she concluded. "By the way, that was reckless of you, transforming with that on," Soon Li scolded.

Shampoo hung her head, and pulled at the collar in discomfort.

"I could always try a blow torch," Ranma thought aloud, before gaining glares from everyone else in the room. "Just kidding."

"I'm going to find her, and then-" Akane started, but Soon Li cut her off.

"You'll do nothing of the sort," Soon Li said with a serious look, causing Akane to lower her head. "We don't want to further escalate this. Even if you did attack her, there is a good chance you would not recover the key. No, for the moment I think we will have to beat her at her own game."

"That means I have to fight in that stupid match. Just Great!" Akane said, tossing her arms in the air to vent her built up anger at the situation.

"Don't worry Akane, we can beat them," Ryoga said confidently.

"Hey, who said anything about you being Akane's partner?" Ranma said suddenly.

"It's obvious that I should be the one to skate with Akane," Ryoga said, confidently pointing to himself with his thumb.

"How do you figure? I could mop the floor with you any day, ice or not!" Ranma countered, angering the other boy.

"Just try it!" Ryoga said as he rose to his feet. Ranma did likewise, but their squabble was brought to a quick end by Akane.

"Would you two be quiet!" she ordered, giving them both pause. "I'll choose who I skate with," she said more calmly. The boys gave each other one last glare before looking to Akane for her decision. Suddenly on the spot, Akane withdrew a little before dropping her head to think. "I'll skate with Ranma."

"But Akane-" Ryoga quickly began to argue but Akane cut him off.

"Sorry Ryoga, but like it or not he's a better fighter than you," Akane said.

Ryoga opened his mouth to continue, but words failed him. His shoulders sank in defeat. "Oh, alright," he reluctantly said.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can help us train. We're going to need all the help we can get," Akane quickly said to console the boy.

"I wouldn't be worried Akane, it's martial arts figure skating. I can win anything with martial arts in it," Ranma said with confidence, but Akane did not share such.

"Really? You can barely stand up on the ice!" Akane said and thinking on this began to lose hope. "We're going to get clobbered!"

"Don't give up so easily, Akane," Soon Li counseled.

"We wouldn't be in this stupid situation if I was watching out for Shampoo," Akane said in depression, but Shampoo shook her head.

"You can no look after Shampoo all time," Shampoo said, then glared at Ranma. "Besides, Ranma no help."

"Hey," Ranma complained. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Shampoo was right there, why you no help?" Shampoo asked in frustration.

Ranma hesitated. "You know I'm scared of cats. I couldn't help it," he tried to explain, but Shampoo merely huffed.

"That's enough, Shampoo. There are certain weaknesses we all possess and they aren't so easily overcome," Soon Li cautioned, causing the younger Amazon to look away. Satisfied for the moment, she stood up. "Why don't you two get cleaned up, and don't fiddle with that collar anymore. Hard to say how it will react."

"Yes Soon Li," Akane said and stood up. "Come on, Shampoo."

Shampoo nodded and joined Akane. As they left the room, she gave Ranma a parting apologetic look.

Sighing, Ranma walked out into the yard, while Ryoga leaned on the table. Soon Li looked to Ranma, and followed him outside. "I'm sure she was just speaking out of frustration rather than anger at you, Ranma," Soon Li said.

"She's right though, I was right there," Ranma said with a sigh. "Damn this stupid fear..." he said, pulling at this hair and growling in annoyance.

"Fear is not an easy thing to fight, I would know," Soon Li said, surprising Ranma.

"You have a phobia?" he asked and she nodded.

"Claustrophobia. Pretty bad too. Can't even conceive of going into a cave or the like," she admitted with her own sigh.

Ranma nodded in understanding. "It's like... I know it is totally irrational, but..."

"Fear unfortunately doesn't concern itself with being rational or not," Soon Li joked.

Ranma sadly nodded in agreement. "I don't suppose you know any tricks to fight it?"

"That depends. I used to be so bad I couldn't even stay indoors unless I was near an open window. However, I thought a lot on what was really scaring me, and realized it wasn't buildings, but really being underground. Not sure that is helpful in your situation though," Soon Li said.

Ranma thought on it, but did not arrive at an answer. "Well, it doesn't matter. Not like it is going to change what happened. I'll just have to get that key. There is no way I'm losing that match."

Soon Li nodded in approval. "I hope so."

XXXXX

The next day Shampoo was walking alone on her way to school. With her head slouched and the collar still around her neck, she was lost in thought. She walked along the canal for several minutes when suddenly Azusa's familiar voice called out.

"Charlotte!"

Shampoo spun around to see Azusa running her way. Shampoo quickly covered the collar with her hand and backed up to the canal fence. Azusa stopped to face Shampoo just a few feet away.

"What you want? Go away crazy girl!" Shampoo ordered but Azusa look undeterred.

"Oh please Charlotte, come home with Azusa," the girl gleefully beckoned.

Shampoo tensed. "What you talking? Name Shampoo, not Charlotte."

"No, no, no, you can't fool Azusa, Charlotte. I saw your collar. Now come home with Azusa," the skater said, pointing to Shampoo's neck and approached.

Shampoo jumped away, onto the fence. "You go now or Shampoo get angry!" Shampoo threatened in a mix of anger and fear, but Azusa pressed on.

Azusa jumped up onto the fence with Shampoo. "You don't scare me Charlotte," she said and tapped Shampoo. The act was unexpectedly forceful, sending Shampoo off balance and into the water of the canal. Now a cat, she managed to struggle free of her clothes and resurface but was snatched up out of the water the second she did.

"Oh, you're so cute!" Azusa cooed as she held Shampoo firm. Shampoo tried to struggle free, but the girl's grip was unbreakable. The battle did come to an end, however, when Azusa produced a cat cage and forced Shampoo inside. The door was quickly locked, trapping her within. Looking in through the bars, Azusa said, "Wait until we get home Charlotte. All your little friends are waiting. And soon, maybe we'll have kittens."

XXXXX

Shampoo awoke with a sudden scream, lightning already summoned into her hand. However, she was in her room, the hour late. Not fully able to discard the nightmare, Shampoo scanned the room for any signs of her tormentor, electricity still jumping across her hand.

All this was enough to awaken Akane who sat up in concern. "Are you okay?"

Shampoo looked to Akane, took one last look about the room, then let herself calm, dispelling the technique.

XXXXX

The next day at the skating rink, Shampoo laid with her head resting on her arms on the table, sleeping restlessly. Ryoga sat at the table with her while Akane skated around the ice. Ranma came into the sports center, looked at Shampoo curiously before putting his skates on and joining Akane.

"What's wrong with her?" Ranma asked.

"She didn't get any sleep last night. Just leave her be. We're supposed to be practicing," Akane said.

'No sleep huh,' Ranma thought, remembering his own restless night not so long ago. Dismissing that matter from the moment, he turned to Akane. "Are you sure your wind techniques don't work?"

"Quite sure, I've been trying since I got here. Watch," Akane said and let off a wind punch towards Ranma. On the ice, Ranma found himself unable to dodge. The blow was a light one though, but still enough to overwhelm Ranma's meager balance, and send him onto his rear. However, the affect on Akane was nearly equal. She too was sent off balance, and sliding backwards until she too fell to the ice. "See," she moaned as she regained her footing. "Basic physics, for every action there is a reaction. Normally I can brace myself on the ground but it is so hard on the ice."

"Then, I guess we're pretty much back to the basics," Ranma said, his confidence unshaken.

XXXXX

Hours later Akane finished her practice and skated over to Ryoga. She looked around in confusion, seeing no signs of the others.

"Where's Shampoo and Ranma?" she asked curiously as she stepped off the ice.

"They left a few minutes ago. Ranma was walking Shampoo home," Ryoga said.

"Oh," Akane quietly said, and sat down to remove her skates before looking to Ryoga. "You didn't need to stay, you know."

"Ah, well... I thought, you know... ah, maybe you would want some company on your way home, or something," Ryoga nervously said.

Akane smiled, finished putting on her regular shoes and got up to leave. "Thanks Ryoga, that's really kind of you. Shall we go?"

"Ah, yeah, sure," Ryoga said eagerly and he joined her.

After turning in the skates, the two walked out of the sports center with Akane leading. They walked silently for some time, Akane lost in thought. "I thought you we're pretty good out there, Akane," Ryoga finally commented.

"I'm going to need to be a hundred times better than that if I expect to win. I can't stand the thought of Shampoo being stuck with that girl!" Akane said with a frown.

"That won't happen, Akane. I'm sure you and Ranma will win," Ryoga assured her, but Akane could not shake her worries.

"Ryoga, are you okay here?" Akane asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

Akane looked over at the boy. "I mean, staying with us. I know you don't exactly get along with Ranma and you really don't have a proper room and all..."

"Well, I ah... It just that, you know... Well it just that..." Ryoga nervously stammered.

"If you would like to go home, you could tell us where to find your house and we could lead you there. Maybe Ranma remembers," she suggested.

"Nonono Akane, that's not really necessary," Ryoga quickly said.

Akane shook her head. "It's no problem at all, Ryoga. You've been so nice and helpful-"

"No really, I kind of like it around here," Ryoga said at last.

"Really?"

Ryoga laughed nervously. "Yeah."

"Hmm, well okay then, but the offer still stands," Akane replied and once more they fell into silence.

After another minute, Ryoga asked, "You really think I'm nice?"

"Of course, not like that jerk Ranma," Akane said with a scowl.

Ryoga grew hopeful at this. "So you don't like him?"

Akane sighed, before responding, "Ranma, well... he... it's... Oh... I don't know why, but he makes me so mad half the time. Maybe it's that ego of his, or that the fact that he's so damned defensive." She sighed once more. "What's it matter anyway? He's not going to pick me."

"What do you think Shampoo thinks about him?"

"Shampoo, hmmm. I don't know. He does seem to be less of a jerk around her," she said as she considered.

"So you think he'll choose Shampoo?"

"If he ever does get around to choosing, hmmmm, I... I don't know," Akane said.

Beside her, Ryoga frowned but said no more on the matter.

XXXXX

Several minutes ahead of Akane and Ryoga, Ranma and Shampoo were likewise walking home. Unlike the former pair though, the latter were walking in relative silence. Shampoo yawned, still feeling tired despite her nap at the sports center.

"Nightmares?" Ranma asked, getting only a murmur in response. "Yeah, I know what it's like."

Shampoo sighing, pulling in discomfort at the collar.

"Don't worry about it, there's no way we're going to let that girl have you," Ranma said, but still Shampoo would not respond. "You're a real conversationalist today," he commented sarcastically.

"Have nothing to say," Shampoo said at last.

Ranma frowned, unseen by Shampoo. 'What's with these two? Akane always getting angry with me and Shampoo won't talk to me. Ahhhh, why do I bother? It's not like I wanted this stupid engagement or nothing,' he thought. 'I'm sick of this! Why don't they just give me a break?' Thinking on this caused Ranma to sigh, briefly gaining Shampoo's attention. "Nothing," he said, causing her to look away once again.

'Why do I even care?' Ranma asked himself. 'Nahhh, couldn't be. No way.' Ranma shook his head to dismiss the thoughts and refocused. Looking for another topic to occupy the moment, he asked "Hey, why do they call you Scratch anyway?" he asked, then immediate mentally hit himself for even bringing it up.

To his surprise, Shampoo took the matter in stride. "Akane use that name. Friends no know I cursed. Akane tell them Shampoo get that name because scratch anyone who try hold or pet her, except family," she explained.

"Hmh? Why would you do that?" Ranma asked and this time Shampoo did stop, and turned to Ranma, her expression one of disbelief at Ranma's ignorance. "What?" Ranma asked as he too stopped.

"Why you no just try imagine it," Shampoo suggested.

Skeptically, Ranma did as bidden, picturing himself as a small animal in someone else's arms. Once he considered the idea of someone petting him, he involuntarily blushed. "Okay, yeah, I guess that would be a little... inappropriate."

Nodding, Shampoo resumed her walk home, Ranma doing likewise. "Even for Amazon, such thing is too much," Shampoo said as they walked. "Shampoo hate be treated like cat. If ever get trapped like that... think would rather die."

"Hey, don't start getting all gloomy," Ranma said. "There is no way Akane or the others... or me for that matter would give up on you. And that goes for this stupid match too. No way me and Akane are going to lose."

Shampoo looked over at Ranma, thought for a moment, and seemed to brighten slightly. "Okay, Shampoo no be... gloomy anymore," she said. "But way you skate..." she hinted after a moment.

"Hey!" Ranma complained but Shampoo simply gave him a flat look. "Okay, fine, how about this. We win, you teach me the next technique. Deal?"

"What kind of deal is that?" Shampoo asked with a slightly amused look.

"Call it extra incentive," Ranma suggested.

Shampoo couldn't help but smile at this. "Okay, is deal."

XXXXX

The day of the contest arrived and the stands of the Kolholz High school ice rink were filled with spectators for the event. Genma, Soun, Soon Li, the other Tendos were sitting in the bleachers. Ryoga sat rink side. Below, by the changing rooms Akane, in a red skating outfit with two yellow flowers in her hair, and Ranma, in red skate outfit with a green dragon on it, met with Mikado and Azusa.

"So, where's Azusa's Charlotte? Azusa wants to see Charlotte or no key," Azusa demanded.

Shampoo, in her cat form, reluctantly walked into view from behind Ranma and Akane.

"My Charlotte!" Azusa excitedly exclaimed as she tried to grab Shampoo but Akane blocked her path.

"Not a chance! You'll have to go through me first," Akane declared.

Azusa stuck out her tongue at Akane then looked at Shampoo. "Don't worry Charlotte. Azusa will win the match and get you back," she said causing the cat to shiver at the prospect.

"We'll just see about that," Akane said. "The key?"

Azusa pulled out the key with a smile as a man wearing a suit came into the hall.

"Hiya dudes and dudettes. So, these the prizes?" the man asked with a beaming smile.

"Yeah," Akane reluctantly answered. The man picked up the reluctant Shampoo and took the key from Azusa.

"Okay then, we're going to have a good show today right? Great!" the man said, not waiting for an answer to his question and headed off.

As Azusa and Mikado began to leave, Mikado said over his shoulder, "Remember what I said, Saotome."

Akane looked at Ranma questioningly. "Huh? What's he mean?"

"Just something stupid he said in the dressing room. Just stay clear of the jerk," Ranma answered.

XXXXX

High on a podium Shampoo, still in cat form, and the key sat next to a large golden cup, both separately chained to the cup. The same man who collected the two started talking through the arena's speakers.

After clearing his throat calmly, he suddenly grew excited and yelled into the mic, "WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO TODAY'S MAIN EVENT: THE BATTLE FOR THE CHARLOTTE CUP!" In response to this the audience erupted into cheers. "ALRIGHT THEN FOLKS, HERE THEY ARE: FIRST, THE TOTALLY UNDEFEATED, MOST AWESOME PAIR OF SKATERS ON THE PLANET: MIKADO SANZENIN AND AZUSA SHIRATORI, THE GOLDEN PAIR!" he continued in a practical hysteric level of excitement.

In response to their introduction, Mikado and Azusa skated out onto the ice and bowed to the cheering crowd.

After letting the cheers continue for over a minute, the announcer continued, this time seeming totally bored, "And a couple unknowns: ah, Arane Tembo and Rinma Saotemda.

"THAT'S AKANE TENDO AND RANMA SAOTOME YOU IDIOT!" Ryoga yelled in annoyance.

Ranma and Akane skated out onto the ice, Ranma attempting to hoist Akane over his head. Unfortunately for whatever image they were trying to present, Ranma crashed onto his face but did manage to keep Akane supported. The Tendos, Genma, and Ryoga cheered them on, but most the audience could not help but laugh. Azusa in particular skated over laughing to the point she had to hold her sides.

"Alright, that's enough," Akane said in a mix of annoyance and embarrassment.

"You know, the match hasn't even started yet and Charlotte is practically Azusa's already," Azusa taunted.

"In your dreams! There's no way I'm going to lose," Akane declared.

Finally the announcer spoke, "OKAY THEN FOLKS, ARE YOU READY TO SEE SOME REAL NONE STOP EXCITEMENT?" The crowd cheered. "ALRIGHT! ARE YOU READY FOR SOME REAL NO HOLDS BARRED COMBAT?" Once more the crowd cheered. "YES! ARE YOU READY FOR SOME REAL CARNAGE?" In response, the audience let out a huge cheer. "ALRIGHT THEN, WITH NO FURTHER ADEW, LET'S ROCK AND ROLLLLLLLLLLL!"

Off in the audience, one person looked to the boy next to him. "Where's the regular announcer?"

"He's got a sore throat. This is the best we could up with on short notice."

Back on the ice Akane rushed at her opponents dragging Ranma behind her. "Come on Ranma! We're going to win this match!"

"Wait!" Ranma protested, but Akane ignored him.

"Hang on!" she said as she began to spin Ranma around, faster and faster, until a tornado surrounded them.

The odd attack momentarily started the Golden pair, but they quickly recovered and easily dodged away.

"WOOO, WHAT AN ATTACK BY THE CHALLENGERS? TOTALLY UNSUCCESSFUL, BUT A REAL BLAST NONE THE LESS!" The announcer screamed into his mic.

Akane continued spinning Ranma, now nearing the boards. "Akane, I'm getting really dizzy here. Can you stop please?" Ranma asked desperately as he watched the ever nearing obstacle.

"I can't! AHHHHH!" Akane responded and as expected, the pair smashed into the rink side.

"OUCH! THEY'RE GOING TO BE FEELING THAT ONE!" The announcer said in continued excitement.

Mikado smiled and shook his head. "How foolish can you get? Launching such an attack so early in the match."

Ranma finally sat up dizzily then quickly covered his mouth and leaned over the boards. The sounds of retching could be heard and several nearby spectators withdrew in revulsion. After another moment, Ranma collected himself and stood up straight, yet still dizzy.

"Sorry about that. I got carried away," Akane said weakly as she too got to her feet.

"Just please, don't do that again," Ranma said.

"Ranma, look out!" Akane said suddenly, refocusing Ranma on the fight. However, it was too late. Mikado and Azusa had skated in, and, with Mikado holding her, Azusa slid in along the ice and tripped up both their opponents. As Ranma and Akane fell, Mikado spun Azusa around and released her to send her flying directly into Ranma, whom she rammed with her knees directly into the face. Mikado turned his attention to Akane, grabbing her up and skating off.

"We were so rudely interrupted last time we were introduced," Mikado said, moving in close.

"HERE WE GO, IT'S MIKADO SANZENIN'S FAMOUS KISS ATTACK!" The announcer said, jumping from his seat with excitement.

Everyone in the audience, especially Shampoo and Ryoga went tense at seeing this. Akane, however, was simply angered. "Is that so? Well then, let me properly introduce myself," she said, and effortlessly slipping his hold, she flipped into the air above him, then landed directly on him, while simultaneously punching him in the face. With Mikado temporarily disabled, Akane got back up and skated to rejoin Ranma, who was still collapsed, dazed on the ice. Azusa did likewise, rejoining a recovering Mikado.

"WHAT AN EXCELLENT COUNTER BY THE CHALLENGER! BUT WILL REJECTION JUST SPURN SANZENIN ON?" The announcer said.

"She's certainly an untamed one," Mikado said.

"You know, she could just hate your guts," Azusa suggested, smiling innocently.

Mikado returned to his feet and combed his hair. "No, she's just playing hard to get."

"YEP!" the announcer concluded.

Finishing with his hair, Mikado grabbed up Azusa and skated toward Ranma and Akane. Akane was still in the midst of helping Ranma back to his feet when Mikado called out, "You've had your introduction Akane, now it's my turn. Prepare yourself." In an act similar to Akane's earlier attack, Mikado began to spin Azusa around in a tight circle.

Akane focused on the coming attack. "I can handle Azusa, if you can handle Mikado."

Recovered, Ranma cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "No problem."

Akane skated in towards the attack, surprising the Golden pair. At the last moment she bent under Azusa and grabbed a hold of the other girl and twisted, wrenching her free from Mikado's grasp. This threw him off balance, giving Ranma the opening he needed.

Leaping in, Ranma yelled, "Hey Mikado, here's my intro." With a lightning fast series of punches, Ranma smashed into Mikado.

Meanwhile, Akane was initiating her own attack. Keeping Azusa in her grip, she once more began her tornado spin. Azusa tried to pull herself loose, but was too slow as the spin sped up incredibly quickly, soon locking her in place with the force. At max speed, Akane simply let go, sending her opponent flying into the boards.

Unfortunately, although both attacks were successful, they also caused both Akane and Ranma to crash to the ice after.

"Uh... Wow... I mean... AHHH, AN AWESOME COMBINATION BY THE CHALLENGERS! WILL THE GOLDEN PAIR BE ABLE TO RECOVER IN TIME?" The announcer said.

"Now that was truly rude," Mikado said as he regained his footing, and wipes some blood from his mouth. Seeing his opponents temporarily disabled by their attacks, he skated off to rejoin Azusa. His partner was not so well recovered, though, and was shaky on her feet.

"It's rare for the Golden Pair to be challenged like this. I see we'll have to get serious," Mikado said as Ranma and Akane likewise regrouped.

"Serious? Hah! Don't make me laugh!" Ranma scoffed. "You try pulling that junk with Akane again and I'm going to put you in the hospital, pal!"

"So, you have some feelings for the young lady," Mikado said with a pleased smile.

"She's my fiancee, and I'm not about to let you touch her, got it? Next time you'll get more than a bloody mouth, you'll end up in a coffin!" Ranma threatened, shocking Akane.

"Ranma?" Akane said softly, but went unnoticed.

Mikado was not moved. "Hmmm, fiancees aren't forever," he said and cracked his own knuckles. "I, Mikado Sanzenin, will take it as a personal challenge to break those ties."

"Over my dead body!" Ranma countered.

"That can be arranged," Mikado replied. "Come on, Azusa, it's time for some anti-match-making."

"But Mikey, Azusa's doesn't feel-" Azusa tried to explain, looking pale, but Mikado pulled her along, cutting her off.

"Come on Akane, let's take these two down," Ranma said.

Akane hesitated for a second, still in shock from Ranma's declaration, then said, "Ahhh, right."

Together, Ranma and Akane skated out to meet Mikado and Azusa, the latter of whom swallowed desperately to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged. Mikado, still oblivious to his partner's troubles, grabbed Azusa's hand and began spinning her around.

'This again?' Ranma thought, but with the slow spin questioned his own conclusion.

"WOOOO, HERE COMES THE GOLDEN PAIR'S INFAMOUS SLICE AND DICE ATTACK!"

Unexpectedly for all involved, Azusa lost her grip on Mikado and flew away, directly into Ranma. In turn the pair smashed into the startled Akane and the threesome formed a heap on the ground.

The announcer's excitement once more slipped as he watched this. "Ahhh, ummm, yeah. I don't think that was quite what they had in mind," he mumbled.

Mikado, on the other hand, took the mishap in stride. "I can work with this," he said and skated over. Grabbing Azusa by the leg, he lifted her feet over his shoulders and braced them there. Whether by instinct or intent, Azusa managed to also complete her part of the plan, grabbing Ranma by the legs. Seeing Ranma in danger, Akane reached out to pull him free, but Mikado was expecting this, and with unexpected might began to spin. Azusa quickly was lifted up to fully stand on Mikado's shoulders, bringing Ranma high into the air with her, along with Akane.

"OKAY THEN, THAT'S MORE LIKE IT. THIS IS THE GOLDEN PAIR WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE WITH THEIR DREADED GOOD-BYE WHIRL! THIS MATCH IS ALL BUT OVER!" The announcer declared and the spin intensified.

Like Azusa had experienced in Akane's spin, the force soon trapped Ranma and Akane, their only action being to hold on against the ever increasing strain of the attack.

"Let go of Akane and I'll stop spinning," Mikado taunted.

"Not a chance!" Ranma yelled and gritted his teeth as his muscles were pushed to their limits.

"Ahhh, Mikey-" Azusa weakly tried to say, but Mikado cut her off.

"Not know Azusa! Ranma, you can't hold on to her forever. Why don't you just admit defeat?" Mikado said.

Ranma shook his head and said, "No way!"

The announcer was once more out of his seat with excitement. "YEAH! THIS IS HOW THE GOOD-BYE WHIRL GETS ITS NAME! WHEN ONE PARTNER BETRAYS THE OTHER IT'S GOOOOOD-BYE!"

"The more you trust each other the greater the shock when you're betrayed. A couple caught in the Good-bye Whirl is doomed to disaster," Mikado explained, but Ranma ignored him, instead concentrating on maintaining his grip on Akane. No one noticed Azusa turning green and beginning to rock her head back and forth.

"Ranma, I got an idea. Let me go!" Akane said suddenly.

Ranma looked at her in shock. "What? Are you nuts? You'll go flying into the ice!"

"Just trust me, I trust you. Let me go! I know what I'm doing," Akane said giving him a confident look.

Ranma hesitated but finally reluctantly nodded. "Alright. You ready?" With a nod of her own, Akane confirmed she was. "Here you go!" Ranma said and released his grip.

The result was just as expected, Akane flew away at an incredible pace, but she seemed unworried about this. She drew back a hand and thrust it towards the chest of Azusa. A burst of air flew forward and hit true. A combination of Azusa's weakened state, the unexpected nature of the attack and just the forces involved in the spin, sent Azusa tumbling out of Mikado's grasp. As the spin failed, Azusa let go of Ranma as well and the threesome began to collapse together.

Her attack successfully, Akane turned to the second issue, and desperately turned to her parachuting technique to slow herself. Unfortunately, she had built up so much speed that it could not fully form. "Ranma!" she shouted desperately as the boards neared.

"Akane!" Ranma shouted back. In an instant, Ranma calculated a strategy. Using Mikado's face as a push off point, he used all his speed to launch himself at Akane. With the enhanced speed, he rocketed through the air, and did manage to close the gap and catch her. Seeing the boards still coming, he spun himself around and braced their impact with his legs, surprisingly finding it difficult but doable. Together they landed on the ice safely.

"INCREDIBLE, THE CHALLENGERS MANAGED TO COUNTER THE GOLDEN PAIR'S GOOD-BYE WHIRL! THIS IS PROBABLY THE GREATEST CHALLENGE THE GOLDEN PAIR HAS EVER FACED!" the announcer screamed in shock.

"That's was the stupidest idea you've ever had, Akane."

"It worked didn't it," Akane complained.

"Yeah, but don't do it again," Ranma said and looked across the ice at their opponents. Mikado, having acted as Ranma's spring board, was embedded in the ice, but managed to pull himself free. Azusa looked little better, her head still spinning.

"Mikey, Azusa doesn't feel so good," the skater said before collapsing.

Mikado did not seem to notice, instead he stared angrily at Ranma and Akane. "I see we'll have to work a little harder for this victory." Looking to his partner, Mikado finally noticed her state, but dismissed this as unimportant. However a plan did come to him. "Come on, we still have to win this match." Picking his partner up, he sat her on his shoulder, and switched his grip her to ankles.

"Mikey, Azusa could use a little break," she said weakly.

"No time for breaks," Mikado said as he skated toward their opponents who skated out to meet them. Smiling confidently, Mikado declared, "You've been an admirable opponent, but now it ends, Ranma."

"Give it a rest, you're the one going down," Ranma declared, and in a moment of recklessness rushed ahead, ignoring a call of caution from Akane.

Mikado waited to the last instant then, swinging Azusa almost like a bat, passed his partner near Ranma's feet. Ranma pulled himself just short of a direct collision, but felt Azusa grab his ankles. 'Damn it,' he cursed mentally just as he was pulled off his feet.

Once more, Mikado demonstrated enormous strength as he began to spin with Azusa and Ranma. Still approaching, Akane gathered wind into her hand, but it was too late. By the time she was ready, Mikado was already in a fast spin, and she had no safe shot. The spin was brief, however, and after only a few seconds, Mikado unexpectedly released Azusa, sending both her and Ranma directly into the nearby boards. Ranma tried to brace with his hands, but it was futile with the extra mass of Azusa behind him, and he crashed head first. After a second of stubborn resistance, biology won out and Ranma collapsed into unconsciousness.

"Ranma!" Akane called out in concern, but he did not respond.

"OOOOOOO, LOOKS LIKE THAT'S IT FOR THE CHALLENGERS! IT'S TWO ON ONE NOW!" The announcer screamed, so caught up in the match that he missed that the trophy was now minus one prize, namely Shampoo.

At rink side, Ryoga rushed out of his seat and around the rink to where Ranma was. On the ice, Mikado took Akane's distraction as an opportunity to once more grab her up in his arms.

"Forget about that paltry little man, Akane, you have me," Mikado said with a seductive smile.

"You just don't get it do you! Here, maybe this will make it through that thick skull of yours," Akane replied, and once more slipped his grasp, this time dropping to the ice. Mikado looked down just in time to see Akane outstretch her arms and enter a tornado as she jumped up. The winds grabbed up the ice and moisture in the atmosphere, obscuring all within the attack. Finally, the winds faded, leaving a beaten and barely conscious Mikado falling to the ice, while Akane coasted down.

"HOHO, WHAT A BEATING! MIKADO DOESN'T SEEM TO BE DOING TOO WELL WITH THE WOMEN TODAY!" The announcer continued his excited rant.

One opponent dealt with, Akane skated off to Ranma but found Azusa had already recovered and blocked her.

Meanwhile, leaning over the boards, Ryoga desperately shook Ranma. "Come on you idiot, wake up! Akane's out there all alone!" Ryoga yelled, but got no response. Looking around desperately, he spotted something, and ran down the nearby hall. A moment later he returned with a bucket of water which he tossed on Ranma. This succeeded in jolting Ranma back to his sense, but also transformed him into a her.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Ranma exclaimed as she jumped to her feet. A quick assessment of her surroundings and she spotted Akane attempting to desperately dodge Azusa, and Mikado was already recovering. "I'm coming Akane," she called out but then pulled herself short when she realized her current situation. "How did I...?" Ranma asked, looking back at Ryoga, seeing him sheepishly put aside the bucket.

"Uh... sorry, I forgot," Ryoga said from behind her.

"Just great," Ranma moaned. "Give me some hot water, fast!"

Ryoga looked around in a panic, but soon gave up and shrugged helplessly. "I haven't got

any."

"You idiot!" Ranma declared, and looked back at Akane who was now engaged against both Mikado and Azusa. Desperate she looked back at Ryoga in consideration. "Ahhhhh, here!" she said, and in a lightning quick set of motions, Ranma switched shirts and skates with the with the boy, and tossed him onto the ice. "Get out there and stall while I find some hot water!"

Not waiting for a reply, Ranma leaped off the ice. However, a cry from Ryoga pulled her up short, and she looked back to see Ryoga already flat on his face. "I better be quick," she muttered to herself, and ran ahead.

Ryoga, in the meantime, struggled back to his feet, and unsteadily headed towards Akane. "I'm coming Akane, don't worry," he called out.

"WOOOHOOHO, LOOKS LIKE I SPOKE TOO SOON! THE MALE CHALLENGER IS BACK IN THE MATCH!" the announcer yelled before looking closer. "Wait a sec. That is him, right? Oh well," he muttered over the mic, but quickly dismissed the matter.

"So, you're still with us, Ranma... Wait, you're not Ranma. Who are you?" Mikado asked in confusion.

"I'm... Ahhhh!" Ryoga started to say, but promptly fell on his face again. Akane, though, came to his rescue and snatched him up and skated off.

"Ryoga? Where's Ranma?" Akane asked in confusion.

"He had to get some hot water," Ryoga explained.

"Huh... oh... Oh great!" Akane moaned.

"Don't worry Akane, we can take these two," Ryoga said with confidence. However, when both Mikado and Azusa jumped in with a pair of flying kicks, skates first, Ryoga's dodged only by shear luck of loosing his balance and falling to the ice and under the attack, taking Akane down with him.

"You haven't been practicing much, have you?" Akane asked, to which Ryoga could only nervously laugh.

XXXXX

In the hall by the washrooms, Ranma exited the girls washroom and looked around in annoyance. "Great, a multimillion dollar school facility and no damned working hot water tap!" she complained for no one to hear.

"OOOOOOH, THAT HAD TO HURT! THE GOLDEN PAIR CIRCLES FOR ANOTHER ATTACK AND... OOOOOUUUUCH, THAT'S GOT TO BE PAINFUL! CLEARLY THAT BLOW TO THE HEAD HAS AFFECTED THE MALE CHALLENGER'S SKATING ABILITY!" the announcer's voice echoed through the halls.

"Come on, just hold out," she muttered as she ran on to the next area.

XXXXX

Out on the ice, Ryoga crashed into the boards and slid down, stunned. He shook his head then looked in terror as Mikado and Azusa circled around and charged in. Each skater raised one leg, exposing the blades to a possible impact with Ryoga's head. The prospect of such was enough to cause him to scream out in terror and shields his face.

Across the ice Akane was getting back to her feet when she spotted the impending attack and gasped. Instincts took over, and summoning all the wind should could muster, she sent a huge gust of air at Mikado and Azusa. Not truly paying her much attention, they were caught by the attack and sent crashing along the ice, and safely clear of Ryoga. Unfortunately, Akane flew backwards with equal force. She realized her error too late as her head connected with the boards behind her, sending her into unconsciousness.

XXXXX

By the dressing rooms Ranma came to a stop to rest.

"LOOKS LIKE THAT'S IT FOR THE CHALLENGER!" the announcer's voice echoed in excitement.

Ranma growled in anger. "Ryoga, you idiot," she muttered.

"YES SIR, SHE MAY HAVE RESCUED HER PARTNER BUT THAT IMPACT WITH THE BOARDS HAS KNOCKED HER OUT OF THE MATCH!"

Ranma blinked in confusion. "Akane? Oh shoot!" Ranma mind went into overdrive at the implication, until she spotted the girls' dressing room and sighed, having no other options. "At least I don't need to find hot water anymore." Pushing open the door, Ranma headed into the dressing room.

XXXXX

Back on the ice, Ryoga stumbled over to Akane who was being attended by the Tendos and Genma. Soun was crying over her while Mikado skated over.

"Oh, what a tragic waste of such beauty," he commented then turned to Ryoga. "Do you wish

to surrender now or shall we beat you senseless first?" he asked.

"Why you..." In angry at the boy's arrogance and callousness, Ryoga tried to grab him but failed, falling flat on his face.

"Very well, let the beating commence," Mikado concluded but before he took any action, Ranma jumped onto the ice.

"Not without me," the female Ranma declared, now dressed in a yellow and brown female skating outfit.

"WOOOO, HOLD IT A SECOND! FURINKAN HIGH HAS BROUGHT IN A SUBSTITUTE FEMALE CONTENDER!" the announcer screamed in excitement, then grew perplexed and pulled out a rule book. "Is that legal?"

"Well, well, well, what fair maiden is this?" Mikado said in change of mood, once more pouring on the charm.

"I'm no maiden you jerk! I'm the person that's going to kick your ass!" Ranma promised, picking Ryoga up. "Come on Ryoga!" she said, skating off with Ryoga in tow.

Smiling, Mikado chuckled to himself. "Ah, yet another untamed heart for me to conquer," he said as Azusa rejoined him and together they skated off to meet Ranma and Ryoga at the center of the ice.

At the podium, the announcer, seeing this, tossed aside the rule book. "Well, I can't find anything in this thing, looks like we'll just go with it for now... THE MATCH RESUMES!"

XXXXX

Up in stands, Perfume entered the building and looked down to the ice. News that the Golden pair was here, in particular Mikado, had just reached her and she had rushed over to see him once more. Now she puzzled over the face off on the ice.

"What going on?" Perfume asked a nearby member of the audience.

"It's a martial arts figure skating match. The Golden pair verses... uh... I'm not sure anymore," the man admitted.

Looking down at the challengers, Perfume recognized Ranma and frowned. "I no let Ranma hurt new boyfriend," she said menacingly as she drew her battle ax and began making her way to rink side.

On the ice, the battle was not going well for Ryoga and Ranma. Only shear tenacity was keeping them in the fight as the Golden Pair thoroughly out skated the pair, and simply used hit and run tactics to wear them down. Perfume paused at seeing this, reconsidering her approach but then caught sight of something else.

Across the rink in the stands was a huge group of girls. They carried various banners, one in particular saying 'We live for Sanzenin'. Perfume was initially confused by this, then grew dark. "Oh, so that how it work hmmm. Now I understand," she said as she fumed, and resumed her march to the ice.

XXXXX

Back in the rink, Ryoga got slammed into ice with Azusa's knees planted in his face. Azusa hopped off revealing Ryoga's endurance had finally failed him and he was now unconscious. Ranma, temporarily distracted by this, found herself grabbed up by Mikado in a passionate embrace.

"Now that he's out the way, we can get to know one and other better, my fair pigtailed one," he said as he leaned in for a kiss, but Ranma managed to block such with quick head butt.

"Hey you jerk, keep your lips to yourself!" she yelled in disgust, but Mikado was undeterred.

"There is no need for such shyness, my lovely. Just one little-" Mikado started to say but was cut short when an ax came flying in and embedded itself in the ice right next to them. Both Ranma and Mikado were startled by this, and turned their attention to Perfume who had come onto the ice and was stalking towards them.

"Ahhh, my lovely enchantress from China, we meet again," Mikado greeted with a smile, quickly releasing Ranma when he noticed the anger in Perfume's eyes. "So my beloved, what brings you here?"

Perfume paused just short of Mikado and beckoned him to lean forward. Cautiously he did so, and found Perfume grasping his head gently. "This," she said darkly, then twisted his head slightly to the side to give him a kiss near the ear on his cheek. She then released the boy, stepped back and smiled evilly at him.

At rink side, Kasumi and Nabiki watched this in shock. "Oh my, wasn't that-" Kasumi began to say.

"The Kiss of Death?" Nabiki continued for her, and answered, "Yeah."

"Oh dear."

Back on the ice, Mikado was oblivious to the implications of the kiss, and simply blinked in confusion. "That was quite pleasant, but I'm a little confused."

"No be much longer," Perfume replied dangerously, pulling her ax from the ice, then taking a swing at Mikado. Thankfully for the boy, his combat instincts served him well, and he managed to dodge away.

"WOOOO, SEEMS MIKADO GOT HIMSELF ONE OF THOSE FATAL ATTRACTIONS! IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN!" the announcer said excitedly as Perfume pressed her attack.

Back at the rink side, Akane groaned and opened her eyes. Nabiki leaned over her and held up two fingers for her to see. "Akane, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Ahh, five, maybe six," Akane replied painfully.

"Yep, she's out of it," Nabiki concluded as she stood back up, breaking Soun into a new batch of tears.

"Don't worry, dear, I'm sure she'll be fine. She just has a little concussion," Soon Li consoled her husband.

"Yeah, but that means I got no one left as a partner, in either gender," Ranma pointed out, looking back to see Mikado still distracted by Perfume, with Azusa apparently finding the whole thing rather amusing.

Just then Shampoo, returned to human form and clothed in her normal attire save the unwanted collar, arrived and went to Akane's side. "Akane, is you okay?" she asked in concern.

"I'm fine," she lied and tried to get up, but when the world went spinning once more, laid back down. "Okay, maybe not, but I'll live. I do have one hell of a headache though."

"Where have you been, Shampoo?" Nabiki asked.

"Shampoo get hot water. Hard find," Shampoo said with an annoyed frown.

Ranma nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it," she said before an idea hit her. "Wait, Shampoo, you know how to skate, right?"

Shampoo was confused but nodded. "Ahh, yes."

"Perfect! Come on! Show me where that hot water is!" Ranma said and grabbed Shampoo by the wrist.

"But, Ranma-" Shampoo tried to explain, but the transformed boy would not listen.

"No time, we got to get back on the ice before they notice."

XXXXX

Several minutes later, ten security guards were dragging an irate Perfume off the ice, and just barely managing the task. "I GET YOU YET, SANZENIN! YOU WAIT! I GET YOU!" Perfume yelled as she was escorted away, managing to throw her ax one last time at the skater. Fortunately for him, it was well wide of its mark.

Mikado cleared his throat to relieve his tension before commenting, "How distressing that I could drive a woman to such lengths. The curse of these good looks I guess."

Azusa rejoined her partner, smiling. "You're silly," she commented.

"And exactly where were you when that woman was trying to kill me?" he whispered.

"Watching," Azusa replied honestly with an innocent smile, causing Mikado to hang his head and sigh.

"Let's get this... over... with," Mikado began to say but when he looked to where Akane had been, in her place stood Ranma, now back in his original outfit and in male form, along with Shampoo in a red skating outfit similar to Akane's save having a winged serpent as its decoration. The two stood on the ice, ready to face them, although Shampoo looked nervous.

The announcer too noticed this and hit his head on the table. "Hold it, hold it, hold it! This is ridiculous! Furinkan has pulled yet another switch in mid-match!" he complained on mic before another person came up and whispered in his ear. "Seriously?" he asked in surprise and gained a nod. "Errr... well... okay then," he said and the other person left, prompting the announcer to clear his throat and reset himself back to his overly excited posture. "OKAY FOLKS, I'VE JUST BEEN INFORMED BY THE JUDGES THAT IT IS TOTALLY LEGAL TO BRING IN SUBSTITUTES IN MID-MATCH! IT WILL BE REVIEWED IN THE FUTURE BUT FOR NOW IT'S ALL GOOD! SO, LET THE FIGHT GO ON!"

Back on the ice Mikado combed his hair then put the comb back in his pocket. "Perhaps I should consider going to Furinkan if it has this unending fountain of loveliness," he commented idly before addressing Shampoo. "Your name is Shampoo if I'm not mistaken. You disappeared so suddenly last time we met. So you have come to get your special greeting?"

Ranma groan in annoyance. "Geez man, don't you ever give up?"

"Oh, Ranma, so you're back too are you. You've managed to keep two girls from me but be assured, I will get my kiss yet," Mikado confidently declared.

"Just try it! Come on Shampoo!" Ranma said and pulled Shampoo along with him as he rushed ahead.

"Wait, Ranma-" Shampoo tried to say, but once more he did not listen to her.

"Don't worry about it, just follow my lead," he said but about half way to meeting with Mikado and Azusa, Shampoo lost her balance and crashed to the ice, taking Ranma down with her. "I thought you said you could skate?" Ranma complained.

"Did say, but also say no very good. If you give Shampoo chance to talk-" Shampoo shot back.

Before Shampoo could say any more, Azusa snagged Ranma's legs, musically saying, "Here we go again."

Like Akane before her, Shampoo made the same mistake, attempting to pull Ranma free, and with the same results. Mikado once more lifted Azusa onto his shoulders and began the Good-Bye Whirl, successfully trapping Ranma and Shampoo.

"WELL, HERE IT IS AGAIN PEOPLE, THE GOOD-BYE WHIRL! WILL THIS COUPLE FAIR AS WELL AS THE ORIGINAL PAIR?" the announcer said as the spin continued to ever higher speeds.

"Come on Ranma, give up. Let go of the girl," Mikado taunted.

"You don't listen, do you. Like I said before, not a chance!" Ranma shot back.

Mikado merely smiled. "You can't hold on forever, you know."

"We'll just see about that!" Ranma replied as he strained against the ever increasing force.

Unfortunately, unlike Akane, Shampoo did not see any options to escape. She had no way to slow herself in mid air as Akane did, nor any means to counter attack with both her arms already taxed just holding on. Giving into despair, Shampoo closed her eyes in preparation for the worst.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let go," Ranma shouted at her.

"The longer you hold her the harder she'll hit. Give up!" Mikado pointed out, but Ranma simply glared at him.

"Drop dead you jerk! I'll let my arms tear from their sockets before I'll let go!" Ranma declared, prompting Shampoo to open her eyes in surprise.

While this was going on Azusa, who had been feeling up thanks to the rest period, was once more feeling queasy. "Ah, Mikey, I think we should have waited a little longer. Little Azusa has a tummy ache," she said as the feeling quickly amplified.

"Pardon?" Mikado asked and looked up just in time to see Azusa attempt twice to swallow then her cheeks puff up. The implication quickly hit him. as she reflexively bowed her head. "AHHHHHHH! NONONO! NOT ON ME!" he yelled, and in fear of the potential result, let go of Azusa.

In turn, Azusa could hold on no longer, and released Ranma, causing her to fly off on her own trajectory, and Shampoo and Ranma did likewise. Seeing the imminent collision with the boards, Shampoo reflexively cringed and braced, but Ranma had other ideas. Flipping around in mid air, he placed himself in direct line of the impact, and like with Akane attempted to take the impact with his feet. However, the speed was too much this time, and his legs buckled under the force and he slammed hard into the board. Shampoo was more fortunately, Ranma absorbing most the impact. Still, the pair slid to the ice, unmoving.

"LOOK AT THAT PEOPLE, THE CHALLENGER NEVER LET GO OF HIS PARTNER! FAITHFULNESS IS NOT WITHOUT ITS PRICE HOWEVER! LOOKS LIKE HE SUSTAINED SEVERE, BONE CRUNCHING INJURY! AND ON A SIDE NOTE, THERE SEEMS TO BE A FINE YELLOW AND GREEN MIST OVER THE RINK!" the announcer screamed excitedly.

Shampoo slowly got to her knees and looked at Ranma in concern. "Ranma, is you okay?" she asked but gained no response. "Speak to Shampoo, Ranma!" Shampoo demanded in added concern, but still got no response. "Ranma! Wake up! No scare Shampoo!" she said in a near panic.

Finally, though, Ranma groaned. "I'm alive," he declared. Moaning once more, he added, "but I'm not so sure I want to be."

"No worry Shampoo like that again!" Shampoo said, dabbing her eyes before a bit of moisture could turn to something more revealing. However, the moment was quickly shattered as Mikado, persistent as ever, skated by and snatched Shampoo up.

"HEY! No you don't!" Ranma yelled, rolling painfully over to his knees and attempting to give chase.

Meanwhile, Azusa was recovering from her own more minor collision with the boards. She got shakily to her feet and looked around. "Ohhh, Azusa never wants to do that again. Ohhh," she said weakly. For the first time since the fight had begun, she looked to the announcers area and noticed the absence of Shampoo's cat form. Her stomach was quickly forgotten as she gasped.

Across the ice, Mikado embraced Shampoo, this time taking no chances and pinning her arms to her side, and gave her a seductive smile. "I'm sure you've been waiting for this a long time, charming one," he said, causing Shampoo to cringe and desperately lean away to distance herself as much as she could from Mikado.

Suddenly, Ranma charged in, but Mikado side stepped this attack and tripped Ranma as he passed, sending him skidding along the ice and into the board head first. Already badly weakened, this knocked Ranma to the edge of consciousness.

"Now, where were we? Ahh yes," Mikado said, once more turning his attention to Shampoo. However, just as he moved in to kiss her, he was once more interrupted, this time by Azusa grabbing his hair.

"Where's Charlotte?" Azusa demanded.

Mikado glared at his partner. "How should I know?"

"You help find her!" Azusa ordered.

"Not now you silly wench, I'm busy!" Mikado responded.

Azusa gave Shampoo an annoyed look then went wide eyed when she noticed the collar. "My Charlotte!" Azusa yelled happily.

"Huh?" Mikado said in confusion.

Azusa quickly grabbed Shampoo in a crusher hug causing her to cringe and shake. "Don't worry Charlotte, Azusa will keep you safe!"

"What are you talking about? She isn't your stupid cat!" Mikado yelled in irritation.

"Can... no... breath! Get... crazy... girl... off... Shampoo!" Shampoo said as she began to turn blue from lack of oxygen.

"You heard her Azusa, now let go!" Mikado ordered.

Azusa shook her head. "No, you let go, this is Azusa's Charlotte, not yours!"

"Have you lost what little passes as your brain? She is not Charlotte!" Mikado argued.

'Can't take much more of this,' Shampoo thought as she her skin started to match her hair color.

"No, you're wrong, Azusa knows her little Charlotte," Azusa argued back.

Finally, Mikado broke his grip and grabbed Azusa, forcing her to release Shampoo. Shampoo collapsed to the ice, gasping for breath as Mikado dragged his struggling partner to the side.

"Have you gone completely insane or did you just hit that wall too hard? That's a human being, not a cat!" Mikado said.

Pointing to the collar, Azusa replied, "But that's Charlotte's collar, that makes her Charlotte. Azusa knows because she locked it with her little key."

Shampoo cringed and got to her feet. Looking around, she saw Ranma still immobilized for the moment, and Mikado and Azusa were too focused on each other to be paying her much mind. Smiling, Shampoo began to summon arcs of electricity to her right arm.

The announcer, seeing this, calmly said over the speakers. "I think the Golden Pair should pay more attention."

"I don't care what you did with that stupid collar, she's not a cat!" Mikado continued to argue.

"Maybe she's a magical cat!" Azusa suggested gleefully.

"What are you babbling about?"

By this point, Shampoo's arm was completely covered in electricity, and she looked at the Golden Pair with determination.

"I said, I THINK THE GOLDEN PAIR SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION!" the announcer once more said, finally gaining the two's attention, but it was too late. They turned just in time to see Shampoo jump into the air.

At ring side, the nature of the attack was obvious to the Tendos' who all shielded their ears, save Soon Li. Ranma too came back to his senses just as the thunder began to fill the arena. With a battle cry, Shampoo drove her fist into the ice, and predictably, the ice exploded upwards and towards the figure skating pair. However, much to Shampoo's shock, water exploded into the air with it.

'They built the rink on a pool!' Shampoo managed to think before the rain of water hit her.

In front of her, Mikado and Azusa could do little but watch the oncoming wave of destruction. It quickly fanned out, leaving no avenue of escape and was moving far too fast to outrun. They could manage only screams of terror as it hit them and sent them flying.

The fate of the Golden pair little concerned Ranma at the moment. He too became quickly aware of the true nature of the rink as the whole of the ice gave way and shifted dramatically. The downpour of water from the attack soon caught him too, and his curse activated. Seeing this, he realized that Shampoo would be no less affected and looked to where she had been. With pieces of ice everywhere it was difficult to pick her out. Finally, she saw a spot of pink sliding down a tilted piece of ice. Shampoo was trying desperately to gain traction with her claws, but failed and fell into the frigid water.

Ranma froze, and could only watch as the ice around Shampoo closed in, blocking her from sight. 'She needs help,' she thought, and looked to where the others were. Unfortunately, none of the Tendos nor her father seemed to be aware of the whole thing, still trying to understand the chaos in front of them. 'By the time I reach them and tell them...' Ranma thought as she considered what to do.

Several seconds more were lost to hesitation, but finally, Ranma began leaping over the ice to where she last saw Shampoo. Unfortunately, there was no signs of her. After another second of hesitation, Ranma dove into the water, chanting to herself, 'she's not really a cat. She's not really a cat.'

Meanwhile, back on the surface, the announcer finally recovered from the spectacle and looked around frantically. Finally, he spotted Mikado laid out unconscious in the stands. Not far away, Azusa was likewise out cold. "OH MY GOD!" he exclaimed. "THE GOLDEN PAIR HAS BEEN DEFEATED BY AN INCREDIBLE, AND UNBELIEVABLE ATTACK BY THE CHALLENGER! THE GOLDEN PAIR'S PERFECT RECORD OF 950 CONSECUTIVE VICTORIES GOES DOWN IN FLAMES!"

"Where's Shampoo and Ranma?" Nabiki asked as she looked around.

"Both are in the water. Ranma, I believe, went to rescue Shampoo," Soon Li answered.

"But I thought Ranma was afraid of cats," Kasumi thought aloud.

Just as she said this, the ice once more exploded and Ranma came leaping out of the explosion. Her posture, however, was quite atypical of her usual form, instead looking like she was crouched over on all fours in flight. Genma cringed at seeing this, and had any doubts removed when Ranma let out a feline like growl.

"Curious," Soon Li commented. "At least he recovered Shampoo," she added, pointing to Ranma hand where she held the Amazon turned cat.

"This is bad," Genma said after a moment as Ranma landed in the stands, frightening several audience members, before leaping straight through a wall and to the outside.

"Oh?" Soon Li asked calmly.

"No time to explain, we must follow him," Genma said and rushed to the new hole in the wall to pursue.

The others looked to Soon Li in uncertainty. "You all stay with Akane and Ryoga. Nabiki, go get the key to that collar. I'll see what is happening with Ranma."

XXXXX

For the first time in his life, Ranma found herself in a unique mental position. Usually when pushed this far, the fear totally clouded her mind over. It was almost like being asleep and dreaming the whole thing. This time though, she found it was more like watching a movie. She was aware of everything, but her body seemed to be running on auto-pilot.

Ranma's cat persona stopped not far outside and looked down at its cargo. Shampoo was not responsive at that moment, and the cat persona seemed perplexed on what to do. It placed Shampoo on the ground and insistently nudged the transformed girl in a useless effort to get her to awaken.

In her mind, Ranma grew frustrated by this, and, as if throwing aside a person in her way, forcibly took back control. She picked Shampoo back up and massaged where she figured the cat's lungs would be. "Come on, Shampoo, breath already! You have to be alright!" she insisted as she administered the treatment.

At that moment, Genma arrived, followed by Soon Li. "Careful, he may be dangerous," Genma cautioned in a whisper.

"I don't understand, what's wrong with him?" Soon Li asked back quietly.

"It's his fear of cats. If it goes over the top, the only way for him to deal with that fear is to become a cat himself," Genma explained.

Soon Li puzzled at this. "Odd yes, but that doesn't sound so dangerous."

"Yes but he also has a nasty knack of ripping people limb from limb in that condition," Genma said.

"Ah yes, that would be a problem," Soon Li said in agreement. "We haven't time to waste, Shampoo may be hurt. He seems to be in control."

Genma nodded in agreement, and decided to risk calling out. "Ranma?"

Ranma looked up at her father. "I'm fine. Come on! Shampoo needs help!"

Genma was briefly surprised, but Soon Li rushed forward, and he quickly joined her. Ranma handed Shampoo over to Soon Li who summoned some wind to her finger tip, then pushed the finger tip into Shampoo's mouth. A second later, the cat coughed as the water was forced from her lungs.

"Is she going to be alright?" Ranma asked in concern.

In response, Shampoo opened her eyes, and Soon Li smiled. "Yes, I think so. In the future, I suggest that you do not use that technique on ice," Soon Li said and the cat weakly nodded.

"Come on, let's get that collar off," Soon Li said and headed back inside with Shampoo.

Genma turned to Ranma and with a smile on his face suddenly slapped Ranma on the back. "My son, I'm proud of you! You've finally overcome that phobia of yours!"

"I did?" Ranma said in shock. "Yeah, you're right! I did! Wait a sec, I got to test this," she said and looked around. Not far away she saw a pile of garbage bags and noticed a cat scavenging what it could from the pile. Ranma ran over confidently and picked up the cat. However, the second the cat meowed at her in annoyance, her nerve failed her and she dropped the animal and retreated with a cry of terror.

"Well, maybe not," Genma said in disappointment.

XXXXX

About an hour later, Dr. Tofu finished up with the last of the bandages on Ranma. Ranma winced as the doctor applied the last of the rib tape. "You should wear those for at least a week," Tofu cautioned as he completed the work.

"I heal quick," Ranma replied but once more winced in pain.

"I'm sure you do," Tofu replied with a smile. "But no need to take any risks, now is there?"

Ranma decided not to argue the point. "So, I'm good to go?"

"As good as you'll get," Tofu answered.

"Great!" Ranma said and jumped to his feet, instantly regretting it as another bang of pain shot through his body. "Why does it hurt so much more now?"

"Lack of adrenalin," Tofu answered. "It will hurt even more in the morning."

Ranma groaned and slowly made his way out of the room and into the hall. There, waiting for him, was a beaming Shampoo. "You look happy," Ranma commented.

Shampoo absently rubbed her now uncovered neck and smiled. "Rid of stupid collar. Soon Li say take home and lock in cabinet so no can be ever used again. Oh, and Shampoo get give crazy girl good beating. Is not bad day," Shampoo replied before motioning for Ranma to lead the way out.

Outside the doctor's office, Ranma asked, "I take it everyone else headed home?"

"Yes," Shampoo answered. "Akane be fine," she added to which Ranma nodded.

"Yeah, doc already told me," he said, then smirked. "So, I guess this means you have to keep training me."

"That fine... you only need few more days to adjust when Shampoo made deal."

"You mean... GAH!" Ranma exclaimed.

"You one who make silly challenge out of it," Shampoo said, looking smug.

They continued for a moment in silence, before Shampoo frowned and looked away. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"What?"

"Shampoo say, thank you," she repeated more loudly, looking back at him with a threatening face.

"It's nothing," Ranma quickly said, looking away himself. "Just didn't like that jerk, is all."

"Oh? Is all? Shampoo thought you afraid of cat, yet you save Shampoo when cat..." she hinted, causing Ranma to tense.

"That don't mean anything. You're not a real cat, that's all," Ranma dismissed.

Shampoo examined Ranma intently for a moment, before returning her attention to the road. After a few more seconds of walking, Shampoo turned back to Ranma with a spontaneous urge and moved in, but stopped herself. Looking away once again she returned to her original spacing. The whole thing went unnoticed by Ranma.

%End Chapter 7

Another chapter done. One particular thing I edited out here was Azusa's fate, which was originally to be taken away in to a mental hospital. That never really felt right, and was unnecessary and kind of inconvenient too, so dropped it completely.


	9. Chapter 8

%Chapter 8

"Hey, Perfume, hold up!" Ranma called out as he spotted Perfume just departing from the Nekohanten for the day. It had been several days since the skating match and Ranma wanted answers. "Shampoo tells me all that Kiss of Death stuff was just a fake out! Is that true?" he asked.

Perfume looked back at the boy in annoyance. "Yes," she answered simply.

"What's the big deal?! What I ever do to you?!" he exclaimed.

Perfume gave him a flat look. "What you do to me? You have nerve. What about time you splash me with hot soup?"

Ranma hesitated. "I... I thought you were out to kill me and you startled me!"

"I no even have weapon out!" Perfume complained. "Was just come talk!"

"Well, I didn't know that!"

"And what about time you dump whole crate of fish on me?" Perfume continued, to which Ranma just nervously laughed. "And then there men you tell I is prostitute!"

"I never said that... okay, I may have implied it a little, but they were coming onto me as well and I thought I needed a distraction," Ranma protested, but Perfume merely glared at him. "Okay, maybe there were a few misunderstandings," he concede to which Perfume huffed.

"You should be glad, if I been serious, you be dead hundred times over," Perfume said.

"You never got that close to me," Ranma said impulsively.

Perfume smiled smugly. "You remember when all food disappear from camp?" she asked, to which Ranma paled. "I very good tracker. Only reason you able to dodge me as long as did is curse. If I know about that, you would no have even gotten away for one day."

Ranma stumbled for words for a moment. "Okay, fine, maybe we got off to a rough start. So, why don't we just call it all even then?"

Perfume once more huffed. "I still no trust you."

"What's not to trust?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"You one who try force me marry you..."

"That was just to get you to stop trying to fake kill me, which I thought was real at the time!" Ranma replied in annoyance.

"Then why no choose Akane or Shampoo to marry and make official?" Perfume asked.

"Well... I..." Ranma muttered.

Perfume examined him for a long moment before brightening with a thought. "Oh, now I understand. You wait till they fight and choose strongest. Is very clever."

"What?!" Ranma exclaimed. "I'm not... that's just evil!"

"Oh... is just jerk then," Perfume concluded almost fooling Ranma into nodding.

"That's not it!" Ranma said after resetting himself.

"Then is what?" Perfume asked. "You want all girl to self?" she suggested after a second of Ranma not responding.

"No, I just..." Ranma tried to answer but found his mind stumbling on the topic.

Perfume huffed one final time and turned away. "I no really care. Do what want. Just keep me out of it," she said as she continued on her way.

Ranma watched her depart, not quite able to shake her words.

XXXXX

A few days later, it was a clear and sunny morning, but Ranma was not really getting a chance to enjoy it. He arrived home just behind his father, who was currently in panda form, after a training run, but not an ordinary run. Latched to one of Ranma's ankles was a large metal ball and chain which he had been pulling the whole time.

Panting, Ranma paused at the doorway. "That was no fair Pop, you had a head start!" he complained.

'Stop making excuses,' Genma replied via sign.

"I'll show you excuses, now get this stupid thing off of me!" Ranma demanded, to which Genma produced a key and unlocked the chain. "That's the last time I listen to any of your stupid ideas," he said and continued on into the house. "You got nothing to teach me."

Suddenly Genma smashed a sign over Ranma's head. Painfully, Ranma looked back to see Genma signing him, 'How about I teach you how to keep your promises?'

"What are you talking about?"

'You promised to make a choice,' the next sign read.

"Yeah, so?"

'Well, when are you going to do so?' the next sign demanded.

Ranma cringed a little and looked away. "When I get around to it. Now, stop bugging me!" he said and continued on, leaving Genma making various annoyed growls behind him. However, the subject was playing on his mind.

Ranma stopped and changed course, heading for the dojo where Shampoo and Akane were likely still training with Soon Li for the morning. He did indeed find them within, although unexpectedly the two girls were not doing their usual practice. Instead, Akane was armed with a staff and Shampoo with her chui. The two were making quick exchanges with the weapons.

'Guess she gives them weapons training too,' Ranma thought as he watched. As was usual for the two girls, they were quite evenly matched, but this time Ranma could tell Shampoo had a slight advantage. His analysis was proven correct as Shampoo flipped over Akane and threw one of her chui into Akane's legs. It was too much for Akane to compensate for and she collapsed, rolling over just in time to see Shampoo level her remain chui at Akane's face.

"Nuts! Alright, I give," Akane surrendered and Shampoo pulled her back to her feet.

"Okay, that's enough for now. Go get ready for school," Soon Li said.

"Okay," the two girls replied and turned to leave, finally noticing Ranma.

"Ranma, What do you want?" Akane asked.

"Nothing, just watching, that's all," he replied.

Akane eyed him a bit suspiciously, but let the matter drop and headed on. Shampoo also gave him a curious look, but quickly followed Akane.

"So son-in-law, anything I can do for you?" Soon Li asked.

"No," Ranma said and turned to leave.

"Do you plan to make your decision as to which will be your fiancee soon?" Soon Li suddenly asked.

"Ahhh, well..." Ranma replied nervously.

Soon Li nodded, seeming disappointed. "I see. Ranma, it's time to make a choice. I don't think putting it off any longer will improve the situation," she said, causing Ranma to sigh. "I don't mean to pressure you but I believe you know what I mean. If this situation persists much longer it may get worse rather than better."

'That's basically what Perfume was thinking,' Ranma realized. "I know. I just don't think I'm ready," he said. After a second more of thought, he left.

XXXXX

Later that day Ranma was walking on the wall behind Shampoo and Akane on their way home.

"You're awfully silent today," Akane commented to which Ranma merely murmured. Akane leaned over to Shampoo to ask, "**What do you think his problem is?**"

Shampoo shrugged, having no answer. They continued to walk on in silence for a moment before Ranma final spoke.

"Why don't you two go ahead. I got something to do," Ranma said in an uncharacteristic somber tone.

"Ahhh, sure," Akane said.

Ranma jumped down and turned down a different road, walking off as Shampoo and Akane watched him go in concern.

"**That's very unusual. You two didn't even get into an argument all day,**" Shampoo pointed out.

"**Yeah, why does that worry me?**" Akane said.

"**Don't know, but it worries me too,**" Shampoo said.

The two girls looked at each other in concern then reluctantly continued on their way.

XXXXX

Not long after, Ranma walked into Dr. Tofu's empty waiting room. "Hey Doc, you in?"

Dr. Tofu opened the door of a nearby examination room. "Oh, hello there Ranma. Come on in."

Ranma nodded, and walked into the examination room, closing the door behind him. Dr. Tofu walked over to a sink where he had several tea cups. "Would you like some tea?" he offered as he grabbed himself one.

"Ahh, sure," Ranma said as he sat down on a nearby chair

Fetching another cup, Tofu made up two cups of tea and handed one to Ranma before taking a seat opposite him. "So, what can I do for you? No new injuries I hope."

"No, I'm fine. Akane has been relatively calm lately," Ranma said with a bit of a smirk.

Dr. Tofu chuckled at this. "That's good to hear. So, you're getting along with your potential fiancees now?"

Ranma's mood worsened slightly at this. "You could say that, loosely. That's actually why I'm here."

"Some sort of problem?" The doctor asked.

Ranma considered. "Well, yeah," he said, pausing to collect his thoughts. "Everyone's pressuring me to make a decision, but..."

"But there's a problem," Tofu concluded for him, to which Ranma nodded sadly. "I assume you wouldn't be here if you simply don't wish to make the decision. So what is the issue? Is it that you don't like-"

"No! I... I... like... them... I guess," Ranma started, but stopped and thought for a long moment. "Alright, in the beginning, I had no intention of going along with this. I only agreed to make the decision because it ended the argument. I planned to put off the decision until I could figure a way out of it. But now... now..."

Dr. Tofu examined Ranma intently then concluded, "You've gotten to like them."

"Like? Well, maybe a little more than that," Ranma conceded.

Dr. Tofu smiled. "That's wonderful!" he said.

Ranma shook his head. "Not if it's both."

Dr. Tofu's cheers sharply diminished and turned into a frown. "Oh. Now I see your dilemma."

"Any ideas?" Ranma asked desperately.

Tofu leaned back in his chair. "This is quite a problem. Hmmm. Do they share your feelings?"

"Ahhh, I'm not sure. I think... maybe they do, but I'm not sure," Ranma said. "I mean, the way Soon Li and Perfume are talking, I'd say yeah."

The doctor rubbed his chin in thought. "A real love triangle you got going on, huh. Okay, well, there must be one you prefer."

Ranma tilted his head side to side. "I don't know. This must be how Kuno feels. I'm at a loss here. If I put this decision off much longer, it may... it may just... they may start hating each other."

"I doubt that," Tofu disagreed. "Shampoo and Akane are very strong friends. I can't even imagine them hating each other."

"Even so, I don't want to risk it. I got to make a choice, but who?" Ranma asked.

"That's your choice, not mine," Tofu said with a weak smile.

Ranma sighed and nodded. "Yeah."

"If worse comes to worse, you could always flip a coin," Tofu joked, but found Ranma unexpectedly digging into his pockets. "It was a joke Ranma," he cautioned.

Ranma stopped his search. "Yeah, I know, but I'm desperate."

Dr. Tofu frowned and said, "I'm sure you'll be able to make your choice. It's just a matter of who will make you happier and hopefully that's mutual."

"Hmmm, I hope you're right," Ranma replied and finished off his tea.

"Sorry I couldn't be more of a help," Tofu said as Ranma got up.

"It's okay. Like you said, it's my choice," Ranma responded, then sighed. "Thanks anyway. Seeya."

XXXXX

A while later Ranma was wandering the streets, thinking. 'This is an impossible choice,' he thought in irritation. Just as he did, Ryoga unexpectedly walked into the street ahead of him.

"Where am I now?" Ryoga asked.

"Ryoga?!" Ranma called out, gaining the boy's attention.

"Ranma?! What are you doing in Nagaoko?" Ryoga asked, causing Ranma to roll his eyes and walk over.

"Nagaoko?! You're in Tokyo, you idiot!" Ranma said in annoyance.

Ryoga looked around himself quickly. "Oh, I knew that," he said after a second.

"Sure you did," Ranma replied sarcastically and walked by.

"Oh, shut up Ranma!"

"I'm not in the mood for this right now. Just go away Ryoga, I'm thinking," Ranma responded.

Ryoga glared at his rival for a moment, noticing something off about his demeanor. "About what?"

"None of your damned business!" Ranma yelled back.

"Ahh, so you're thinking about your engagement," Ryoga concluded with a smile.

"Shut up!"

Ryoga ran to close the distance between them. "You know, why don't you just choose Shampoo and leave Akane to me?"

"What?!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Come on Ranma, I know you like Shampoo, and you're always arguing with Akane..." Ryoga said.

"Who's to say I don't like Akane more?" Ranma argued, causing the lost boy to pale.

"No way!" Ryoga exclaimed.

Ranma once more rolled his eyes. "Go away and let me think, Ryoga."

Ryoga was undeterred and continued on. "Think of it this way, what if you did choose Akane? Can you imagine Shampoo's face. You'd break her heart. There would be tears and sobbing-"

Unfortunately, Ranma could not help but imagine it. He shook away the image and slugged Ryoga in the face. "SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" he yelled.

Ryoga staggered, but managed to keep his footing and rub his face. "You know I'm right."

"Don't waste your breath Ryoga, I'll choose who I like! Now get lost! That shouldn't be too hard for you," Ranma shot back.

Ryoga growled and said, "You wait Ranma-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just go," Ranma cut him off to say.

Ryoga watched as Ranma continued on, but after frowning in anger, decided to not push the matter any further. He turned down another street, and promptly disappeared, leaving Ranma alone once again. 'Hate to admit it, but he's right. Which ever one I don't choose...' he thought and in frustration began rubbing his temples. 'Got to make a choice. Got to make a choice. Got to make a choice.'

"Just trust me, I trust you," Akane's voice echoed in his mind.

"Shampoo just no want you to have same problem as her. Shampoo know what it like to have curse," Shampoo's voice soon followed.

Ranma stopped in his tracks, every muscle tensing in intense frustration with himself. Finally he growled and said, "I can't choose. This is aggravating!" Taking in several calming breaths he added. "Okay, stay calm, I can get through this. I've faced tougher challenges... haven't I?" he asked himself and held his head. "My brain is melting here!"

Ranma took another moment to calm himself and looked up at the sky. Night was beginning to fall, and the first stars were visible. 'Come on, I'm not going to take after that idiot Kuno. I can do this. I mean, it's easy. Let's see, Shampoo is really cute,' he thought, envisioning her face, but after a moment, Akane's image invaded. 'Yeah but so is Akane, at least when she's not mad.'

Ranma rubbed his face, and shook his head. 'Nope, choosing on the basis of looks isn't going to work. Got to use something else. Hmmm. Ryoga is right, me and Akane are always arguing,' he thought, but once more shook his head. 'No, she's tried to carry a conversation with me. I always seem to mess it up,' he thought, then paused. 'And what about Shampoo? She barely talks to me at all,' he concluded, but again shook his head. 'No, that's not exactly right either. She does sometimes, when she's not avoiding me. I wonder why she does that. Maybe she doesn't really like me?' he considered. 'No, I think she's just hiding it for some reason. She was always so concerned for me at that skating match, with Kuno, and even with Perfume. Yeah but Akane was too.'

Ranma sighed and continued his walk. 'This is getting me no where extremely fast! A coin would be so easy! Nonono, got to make a rational choice. Got to be something, anything!' he thought before coming along side the park. Seeing a vacant bench, he sat down and continued. 'Okay, maybe my subconscious is the key. Yeah, who do I subconsciously like more?' he asked himself. 'I do spend a lot of time with Akane and I am really protective of her. Maybe... No, wait. Look at all the times I try to crack through that shell of Shampoo's. I even overcame my fear, at least partially, to save her,' he thought and once more tensed. 'Damn it! Even my subconscious is at a loss!'

Ranma looked back up at the night sky. 'Maybe I'm taking this from the wrong angle. Which choice would cause the most regret. Shampoo? Akane?' he asked himself, and smirked as he added, 'Perfume? Nonono, Perfume's out. She's a nice kid but even becoming friendly with her would be too much of a chore. Let's stay on subject here. Akane or Shampoo?'

Ryoga's earlier words came back to him, and he could not help but envision the looks both girls would give him at rejection. 'I'm going to hate telling them. Who ever I do choose the other is going to be so hurt. Shampoo would probably put up a brave act but I can still remember how upset she was when her hair got cut. I've never seen Akane cry but judging from her outbursts of anger I'd say she wouldn't even be able to put up an act,' he thought with a sad sigh.

'Maybe another angle. How about the one that I could make the most happy? Sounds good, so who would it be? Akane? Shampoo? Hard to tell,' he thought with a frown. However, this time the thoughts stuck. Ranma probed his mind for several minutes, thinking hard on his conclusion. 'It's the only thing, there is nothing else...' he thought. Nodding to himself, he stood up, and sighing one last time sadly at the thought of what was to come, he headed home.

XXXXX

Ranma arrived home not long after, feeling like he was dragging a weight far heavier than the one he had in the morning. He came to the common room to find Soun and Genma engaged in a game of Go. Neither looked up from their match at his arrival.

"Ah, Pop, Mr. Tendo," Ranma said to gain their attention.

"Yes son, what can I do for you?" Soun asked as he and Genma looked over to see Ranma standing by the doorway looking solemn.

"I... I've... I've made my decision," Ranma answered.

It took a second for both men to process but finally they realized just what decision and grew cheerful.

"Finally!" Genma exclaimed with a smile.

Soun shared in the joy. "That's wonderful! So, who is it?"

"I'd... I'd rather tell them first," Ranma replied.

"Okay then, I'll go-" Soun said as he got to his feet, but Ranma stopped him.

"No! No, I ahhh... I need some time. I'll tell them tonight," Ranma said.

"Oh, okay then," Soun conceded, looking a little puzzled.

"I'll be up in my room till then," Ranma said and, hanging his shoulders, turned and left.

This was enough for Soun and Genma's mood to likewise diminish. "Hmmm, it isn't exactly the joyful occasion I was hoping for," Genma commented to which Soun nodded.

Just then Akane and Shampoo came in from the yard. "What isn't?" she asked curiously.

Soun turned to them. "Akane, Shampoo, well it seems Ranma has come to a decision at last."

Both girls were pulled up short at this. "He has? Who-" Akane said, betraying her worry.

"He hasn't told us yet," Soun cut in to answer. "He said he wanted to tell you directly, tonight."

"Oh," Akane replied simply, and looked over at Shampoo. The expression on Shampoo was a near mirror of worry of her own.

XXXXX

Not long after hearing this, the two girls had separated, both claiming they had things to do. It was of course an excuse. For Akane at least, her mind was running through so many thoughts she could not keep track of it all. All this was building up an enormous amount of tension in her. As she paced back and forth in her room, wringing her hands compulsively, she thought, 'Why is he making us wait?!'

Akane stopped her aimless march to look at her set out homework, her chosen task to fill the moment, but she already knew she would get none of it done tonight. Pacing the room one last time, she finally looked to the door and headed out, pausing in front of Ranma's room, but with the door closed she could discern nothing from within. She continued on, heading to the dojo, and as expected found Shampoo within.

The other girl was sitting on the floor against the wall, still dressed in her school clothes, leaning on her raised knee in contemplation. She looked up to see Akane, but said nothing.

Akane considered for a moment, then walked over and sat next to her. "**So,**" she started simply, "**he's decided.**"

"**Mmm, yes,**" Shampoo replied.

"**I don't really know how to feel,**" Akane said to which Shampoo nodded in agreement.

"**You like him don't you?**" Shampoo asked.

Akane looked away nervously. "**Me? Like him? Well, ahhh... well it's... I ahhhh...**" she fumbled, but she looked back to Shampoo to see her giving Akane a flat look. Seeing this, Akane conceded, "**Yeah.**"

Shampoo nodded. "**I thought so.**"

"**What about you?**" Akane asked. Shampoo hesitated but finally nodded. "**It's not like you to be so evasive. Why don't you just go for him if you like him?**"

"**Well, you liked him, I didn't want to get in your way,**" Shampoo explained.

Akane let out a sad laugh. "**Get in my way, I wish! I can barely carry a conversation with him without getting into a yelling match.**" Akane sighed then added, "**How in world I could fall for such a jerk is beyond me.**"

A moment of silence passed before Shampoo asked, "**Who do you think he will choose?**"

Akane shook her head. "**I don't know.**"

"**Who do you want him to choose?**"

Akane grew nervous at this. "**Ahhhh, well, that's kind of a hard question to answer.**"

"**No it's not. You hope he chooses you, just like I hope he chooses me,**" Shampoo said unexpectedly.

Akane looked at Shampoo, startled by her words. "**But don't-**"

"**Don't get the wrong idea. I feel guilty but that's what I hope. No point in denying it,**" Shampoo explained.

Akane thought on this for a moment, and was forced to nod in agreement. "**Yeah, I guess not.**"

The two sat in silence for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Akane broke the silence, saying, "**I wish he hadn't made up his mind. Either way, I'm going to feel miserable.**"

To this Shampoo had to nod in agreement.

Again another minute passed in silence between them. "**I can't stand this waiting,**" Akane exclaimed.

Shampoo nodded, but added, "**Think about Ranma. Think of what he's going through. He's got to tell us.**"

Akane paused as she considered that, imagining herself in the situation. "**Well sitting here is just making matters worse. Let's go, maybe grab something to eat,**" she said as she stood up.

Shampoo nodded and joined Akane, but as the pair started to leave, Akane stopped. Shampoo likewise stopped and looked at Akane curiously. "**What's wrong?**" she asked

Akane looked to Shampoo solemnly. "**I just want to tell you, if he chooses you... I'll be happy for you, and I won't let it hurt our friendship.**"

Shampoo smiled reassuringly. "**I know, and the feeling is mutual.**"

Akane shared the smile then both girls headed out.

XXXXX

Up on the rooftop, Ranma lay gazing at the stars in a vain effort to clear his head in preparation. This came to an end when he heard a noise from his room below. 'Guess it is time,' he thought as Soon Li called for him. "Just a minute," he called out and dropped back into his room via the window to find Soon Li waiting, looking at him curiously. "Sorry, wanted a little fresh air," he explained.

"Not a problem. The girls have been waiting for a while now. I don't think you can delay any longer," Soon Li said with a calming smile.

"Yeah, guess not," Ranma reluctantly agreed and joined the Amazon in the hall. "I don't suppose I could choose both," he joked as they headed to the stairs.

"By Amazon law, you could actually," Soon Li said, giving Ranma pause. "But, we're not in the village, so no."

"Right," Ranma said with a weak chuckle.

The rest of the brief walk went in silence until they arrived at the common room. Ranma looked around to see that Akane and Shampoo had already taken position alone together at the far end of the table. Both looked at him intently as he arrived. He then scanned the others to see everyone else gathered in the room. 'Does everybody have to be here?' he asked himself. 'Guess it really doesn't matter,' he concluded and with a heavy look sat down at the table.

Ranma cleared his throat, then again, before starting, "Ah, um... I... I..." Ranma ended his false start with a sigh.

Nabiki leaned over to Kasumi and whispered. "I see this is going to take a while." Kasumi could only nod in agreement.

"Alright," Ranma said to reset himself. "Alright, here I go. This is it," he continued but after a long pause, everyone drooped their heads. "Okay, okay," he restarted and took a breath to calm himself. "I... I want you both to know that I... I really had a tough time choosing. I..." he said before taking another breath. "I... It's really hard for me to say this. I... I... I..." Ranma paused once more for a breath and to build up his courage. "I really... really care for both of you. I'm sorry it took me so long to choose. It's just that... that..." he said before pausing for another sigh. "It's just that I didn't... I didn't want to hurt either of you but... I guess..." Taking another calming breath he continued, "but I have to make the choice."

Ranma sighed once again and took a long pause before continuing. "I... I... no." Ranma shook his head, discarding that approach, and thought for a moment. "Akane..." he started.

In that moment, Shampoo looked down in defeat, trying her best to keep her emotions in check.

"Akane... Akane I... I'm..." Ranma continued, Akane with her attention locked on him. Because of that, unlike Shampoo, she could see the look in Ranma's eyes as he looked back at her. Barely above a whisper, he concluded, "I'm sorry. I chose Shampoo."

Silence embraced the room for a minute, as Shampoo seemed unaware of what was said. Finally, Akane closed her eyes, and after taking in a shaky breath, stood up, unable to hide her already moist eyes.

"I... I... understand. You better make her happy Ranma," she said, her words finally cluing Shampoo in.

Shampoo looked up in surprise at Ranma. "You... choose Shampoo?" she asked to confirm and Ranma nodded.

Before anything more could be said, they noticed Akane leave the room and head upstairs. Shampoo readied to get up, but found Soon Li resting a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Shampoo looked up at Soon Li to see the older Amazon shake her head before heading after Akane.

"Why's everyone so glum? This is a time to celebrate!" Genma said with a bright smile, not shared by anyone else in the room.

"Yeah, sure, celebrate," Ranma said sadly.

XXXXX

In her shared room, Akane sat on her bed, barely withholding the emotions with in her. Without knocking, Soon Li entered, gaining the girl's attention.

"Akane?" she asked in concern.

The simple question was enough to break the barrier down as tears started to stream forth from Akane's eyes. Without words, Soon Li quickly came over and held her, causing Akane to openly being crying.

%End Chapter 8


	10. Chapter 9

%Chapter 9

A gentle wind blew through the numerous trees of the mountain side. The same wind rustled Akane's hair as she stood in front of a large set of horizontally mounted logs surrounded with rope. She took up a fighting stance and took a strike at the log at chest level. She punched again, harder this time, causing the structure to shutter. She continued, roundhouse kicking the log just above it and a slight crack could be heard. Finally, looking angrily at the practice obstacle, Akane let another fist fly into the log. The log broke but she quickly grabbed her hand in pain.

"Ow, damn it! Stupid log!" she mumbled.

Soun rushed over to her side. "Akane! Are you hurt?!" he asked in concern as he examined her hand.

"It's fine, Dad," Akane denied.

"Are you sure? It's not broken or anything?" Soun asked in uncertainty.

Akane shook her head and put on a smile. "Nono, it's fine, just a bruise, that's all."

Soun examined her hand once more but finally conceded. "Alright. Be more careful. There's no need to break it."

"I know, I know," Akane said before her attention shifted due to a crash of thunder.

Soun too looked off into the distance. "Ah, seems like Ranma is doing well," he said with a smile.

Mention of the name stole Akane's smile. "Yeah," she said quietly, her mood shift not going unnoticed.

"Akane, if you need to talk about-"

"I'm fine, Dad. I'll go get a bandage for this," she said and walked off before her father could argue the matter.

Soun watched her leave in concern, finally sighing after a moment.

XXXXX

Off in the distance where the thunder came from, Ranma examined the cracked rock in front of him with satisfaction. He turned to Shampoo who was standing behind him and smugly asked, "So?"

Shampoo looked at his handy work. "Not bad," she replied.

"Not bad?! You said it would take me another week to learn it. Told you I could do it faster," he said smugly.

Shampoo eyed Ranma, seeming annoyed, but the look soon cracked into a smile. "Guess you right," she conceded. "You learn Thunderclap Punch very fast."

Ranma nodded in agreement, although the words hardly conveyed the effort to reach this point. The Thunder Clap Punch, at the most simple level, was really just a Grand Lightning Punch with almost all the safeties removed. So, really, the punch itself was the easy part. Surviving the strike yourself was where the difficulty was.

Ranma had to train to shield his ears to withstand the sound, learning to control the tiny bones within to regulate the volume, while also strengthening the eardrum. Then it was a matter of changing the nature of his punch, removing the instinctive aids that he had unknowingly added to speed himself up safely. The result was a single strike initiating a super heated pressure front in the air. In truth, the flesh of the fist didn't even make contact with the opponent. Instead the pressure itself is what delivered the blow. You knew you did it right when thunder tore the air.

"Maybe pretty soon I'll beat you," Ranma said confidently.

Shampoo let out a laugh. "In dreams, Ranma."

"We'll see about that. So, you going to teach me that wave technique now?" he asked.

Shampoo looked at the rock in consideration, but shook her head. "No, first learn something else."

"Yeah, what?" he asked.

Shampoo walked over to a bag by a tree and searched through it for a moment. She pulled out a small black object and returned to Ranma. She handed the object to Ranma, who looked at it curiously.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Taser," Shampoo replied.

Not initially recognizing the name, Ranma pressed the button on the device to see an electric arc cross between two metal prongs at the end. Ranma tensed and, trying not to betray any nervousness, asked, "And this is for?"

"If can harness electricity of Taser without get hurt, then can learn wave technique," Shampoo replied with a smile.

After taking another look at the electrical arc, Ranma exclaimed, "You got to be kidding!"

Shampoo smiled and shook her head. "If want, Shampoo could teach you other way?"

"Anything..." Ranma started, but seeing Shampoo's continued smile stopped himself short. "The other way is even worse, isn't it?"

"Oh yes," Shampoo replied. "Taser much less likely kill."

"Right," Ranma said, looking down at the Taser with a sigh.

Just then Akane walked into view from the trees. Immediately, she diverted her eyes from the pair, and headed straight to the bag. She removed some bandaging and began wrapping it around her hand as she walked back the way she came.

"Is you okay Akane?" Shampoo asked in concern.

Akane turned back with a forced smile, but had her eyes closed. "I'm fine, just a bruise," she said.

Shampoo watched helplessly as Akane disappeared into the woods once more. She sadly cast her eyes to the ground and sighed. "Akane still very sad," she said quietly.

Ranma, whose mood had likewise shifted, nodded. "Yeah but she'll get over it eventually, won't she?"

"No know. This happen before but she better much quicker," Shampoo replied, turning to Ranma.

"Before?" Ranma asked in surprise.

Shampoo was momentarily confused by Ranma's question, but quickly realized he was not present for such. "Oh, Akane have feeling for Dr. Tofu but he..."

"He's in love with Kasumi," Ranma completed and Shampoo nodded.

"Yes, but this different though. She take much worse," Shampoo said, looking back at the trees.

"Maybe I should have waited a little longer before choosing," Ranma thought aloud, but Shampoo shook her head.

"No, that would only have made more bad," she said.

'Then I should have made it sooner,' Ranma thought but decided such was a useless consideration now.

"Wish could think of way to cheer up. Soon Li thought come train here would help. Maybe Shampoo and Ranma should have stayed home," Shampoo said, but this time Ranma shook his head.

"She insisted we come, remember?" Ranma pointed out.

Shampoo looked up, and was forced to agree. The trip had first been suggested purely for Akane, but she would not have Shampoo excluded. Unfortunately, as soon as Shampoo was included, Akane quickly added Ranma in as he was still in the middle of his Thunderclap Punch training at the time. Of course, the others could see that such was probably going to defeat the whole purpose the trip in the first place, but Akane was insistent. She simply could not accept that her own feelings were as they were, and was still denying them, even if it was plainly obvious to everyone else.

And this was just the latest. Several days earlier, in an effort to snap Akane out of it, all her friends from school had got together to have what they termed as the wildest night on the town ever. Even then Akane had insisted Shampoo come along, and would buy into none of the excuses Shampoo attempted to make to escape. In the end, while it had indeed been an interesting night, it had failed in achieving its goal. The whole evening Akane had put on a good act, but invariably talk led to the taboo subject and derailed.

'I know she's trying desperately to not let it hurt our friendship, but this is too much. She's overcompensating and it is just making things worse,' Shampoo thought. Even more worrisome, although Akane would insist on bringing Shampoo along to these events, in the end she ended up avoiding Shampoo the whole time, and it was starting to hurt, even if Shampoo understood why. It had gotten to the point that Shampoo had even briefly considered asking Ranma to change his mind, but as if anticipating this, Akane cut her off. Akane said she would never take Ranma now, and that they had to respect his choice. It was noble, but also took away the only option Shampoo had left but to endure.

After a moment more of those thoughts, Soun came from the trees, followed by Akane. "That's enough for today. Shall we be off?"

XXXXX

Back home, Soun sat at the common room table, hanging his head sadly, Soon Li across from him. "It didn't work at all."

"I was afraid of that," Soon Li replied. "But, it was worth a try anyway. I knew she had feelings for him, but that they ran this deep... I now regret even suggesting that Ranma be allowed to delay the choice."

"Nonsense," Soun said. "We could not have predicted this. Besides, who is to say he would have made the right choice at the time, or we'd be really any better off now if he had? I doubt he even would have made a choice, to be honest. We would probably have ended up imposing one and then there is no telling if the pair would have worked out."

Soon Li smiled weakly, looking up at the ceiling in the general direction of the girls' room to think.

Nabiki walked by at that point, briefly pausing to look at the two. A quick analysis of the situation made it obvious what they were discussing. She quickly moved onto the bathroom, her destination of the moment, but as she did, she too looked up in thought, frowning.

XXXXX

That night, Nabiki lay awake in bed. She had caught a distinct set of sounds in the hallway not long ago. First the opening of a door, very quiet. Then footsteps down the hall, and down the stairs. If pattern held, the series would be repeated in reverse in about an hour. It had been the same thing for over a week, almost like clockwork.

Nabiki sighed. It was normally against her personal code to get involved in much of anything unless there was a buck to be made. However, she had come to learn there was another time when action was demanded, and now qualified. She had been planning since supposedly going to bed, and having witnessed all the others' failures, there seemed only one avenue of attack left on this particular problem.

After waiting another minute to ensure that tonight was like the other nights, Nabiki rose from her bed, and headed out. She found the door to Shampoo and Akane's shared room open just slightly, obviously left that way to allow quieter entry later. She knocked, experimentally saying, "Akane?" just to ensure said party was not in fact the one remaining in the room.

As expected, Shampoo responded. "She out on walk," she said, prompting Nabiki to enter.

"Again huh," Nabiki commented and walked over to Akane's vacant bed to sit.

"**She's avoiding me,**" Shampoo said as she stared at the roof sadly.

"**Don't single yourself out, she's been avoiding nearly everyone. You just notice it the most****,**" Nabiki replied. Examining Shampoo's melancholy mood, she temporarily switched gears. "**So, have you and him...**"

Shampoo shook her head. "**No. He wants to wait till we're married.**"

"**You didn't say you liked that.**"

Shampoo looked over at Nabiki. "**Yes, and I didn't mean to say that either, but I will respect it.**"

"**I see, so when is the marriage going to be****?**" Nabiki asked.

"**He wants his mother to be there****.**"

"**So, why not just call her up or something****?**" Nabiki suggested.

Shampoo once more shook her head. "**I suggested that, but his Dad said it was out of the question. He said something about a promise he made to her that was very serious, and that she would be very upset if she found out about Ranma's curse.**"

Nabiki raised an eyebrow at this. "**What is it, some weird family pact or something?**"

Shampoo shrugged. "**Don't know, but he said it was vital that we shouldn't contact her right now.**"

Nabiki nodded. Shampoo suitably distracted, Nabiki decided to get to the main topic. "**You know, I was thinking, if you really want to cheer her up...**" Shampoo looked over at Nabiki with intense interest. "**I figure you guys have been going about this all wrong. ****I know of a certain party that is pretty interested in her.**"

Shampoo frowned. "**Y****ou mean Ryoga.**"

Nabiki smiled. "**Nothing slips by you.**"

"**Ye****s****, so what?**"

"**What do you say we fix them up on a date****?**"

"**A date?**" Shampoo repeated in confusion. "**She just-**"

"**Ranma made that choice nearly a month ago now. She's past the, I'll take any guy just to be with someone, phase. Besides, if she was going to do that, Kuno was available the whole time,**" Nabiki argued, causing Shampoo to cringe at even the thought of Kuno and Akane together. "**The way I figure it, more than anything right now, Akane is smarting because she thinks there is nothing else out there for her. We have to remind her there is.**"

Shampoo thought on this a moment in uncertainty before going suspicious. "**What's the catch?**"

"**Can't I help cheer up my little sister without gaining some sort of monetary benefit?**" Nabiki asked in a mock hurt tone.

Shampoo frowned in continued skepticism but after Nabiki grew more serious, Shampoo reconsidered. "**I guess so, but if I find out-**"

"**Yeah, yeah, yeah! Now the first thing we need to do...**" Nabiki said, leaning in to explain her plot. Shampoo likewise got up and began listening intently.

Nabiki would depart for her room, and Shampoo return to bed, before Akane returned.

XXXXX

The next day, Ranma was walking the streets of Tokyo, brooding and hunting. Shampoo had approached him that morning, careful to be clear of Akane, and explained Nabiki's little scheme. Frankly, Ranma did not trust Nabiki in the slightest, but Shampoo looked desperate. So, now they were on the hunt, each taking a different area in hopes that the lost boy could be found.

'Ryoga! Ryoga! Man, I can't believe I helping to set up Akane with Ryoga! Where is that jerk anyway?! Why is it he's only around when it causes trouble?!' Ranma thought in mild anger before stopping himself and sighing. 'Okay, I'm not engaged to Akane anymore. There's no reason why I should be jealous,' he thought. 'Hello, brain, I said there's no reason to be jealous!' Once more, Ranma sighed. 'Akane's not the only one who's still stinging from my choice. No, I can't start questioning myself now. Shampoo was the right choice,' he thought firmly as he looked down an alley. 'Ryoga's not that bad. So he's directionally challenged, he'd never do anything to hurt Akane.'

Ranma turned a corner, then another on his search before pausing to take in a tired breath. 'He's probably off in Hawaii or something,' he thought with a shake of his head before hearing an unexpected crash behind him. Looking back, he found Ryoga, on the ground, looking like he had just dropped in from the middle of a desert.

Weakly the boy reach out, "Ranma... water..." Ryoga said through a groan.

"Ryoga! What the heck... Never mind," Ranma said before rushing forward and helping the lost boy to his feet.

"Are you real or just another mirage?" Ryoga asked weakly before getting slugged in the face and collapsing once more to the ground "Ow! Alright, if you want a fight, Ranma-," he started to say as he weakly made his way back to his feet.

"Not now, Ryoga," Ranma said dismissively. Ryoga seemed to lose strength at that moment and fell forward, but Ranma caught him. "Actually I was looking for you."

"What? Me? Why?" Ryoga asked in confusion.

"I guess you haven't heard yet?" Ranma asked.

From the slightly saddened edge of Ranma's question, Ryoga seemed to regain his strength and shot up straight. "Heard what?!" he asked anxiously.

"I made my choice," Ranma answered and immediately found Ryoga grabbing him by the collar, pulling him in close.

"Whhhhooooo?" Ryoga asked intensely.

"Shampoo," Ranma answered simply.

Ryoga suddenly hugged Ranma and began sobbing. "Thank you, thank you, thank you..." he repeated through tears of joy.

Looking about, Ranma grew nervous as Ryoga continued the display. "Ryoga! Hey! People may be watching you know!"

Finally, Ryoga removed himself from Ranma, dabbing the tears from his eyes. "It's just that I'm sooo happy," he explained with a smile to the heavens, before refocusing on Ranma. "What ever I said in the past about you Ranma, I'm sorry. You're a nice guy after all."

Ranma took the praise with a confused look. "Uhhuh, whatever. Now look Ryoga, Akane's really depressed-"

"WHAT?!" Ryoga exclaimed in sudden anger and once more grabbed Ranma by the collar, this time in threat. "What did you do to her, you-"

Ranma batted away Ryoga's hands. "Give it a rest, would you! Don't you realize that... that..." Ranma started to say, then fell to a whisper. "That she was in love with me."

"Huh? Nonono, no way," Ryoga said, looking on in a mix of fear and denial.

"Believe what you like, it doesn't change the way she's feeling," Ranma said quickly. "Now like I was saying, I need your help."

Ryoga looked at Ranma in confusion, noting a slightly desperate look in the other boys eyes. "I'll do anything for Akane," Ryoga replied.

"Good, this should be easy then. You'll ask her on a date and-"

"D... d... d... d... date?!" Ryoga stammered nervously

Ranma tensed in anger. "Come on, are you a man, or a pig?!"

"HEY!"

"Then you're going to ask her?" Ranma asked forcefully.

"Ah, well, umm..." Ryoga responded, now fidgeting nervously with his fingers.

"Ryoga!" Ranma nearly shouted in anger, finally snapping him out of it.

"Okay, okay, I'll ask her," Ryoga replied meekly. "You think she'll say yes?" he asked anxiously.

"I hope so," Ranma answered solemnly.

"You hope so?!"

Ranma moved behind Ryoga and began pushing him along. "Don't worry about it. Now, come on."

XXXXX

Soon Li stood observing Akane readying herself in the dojo. Akane set her breathing then she threw a twisting punch out at a group of bricks placed at the other end of the dojo with a battle cry. However, instead of a forward moving wind, the mini tornado that resulted quickly enveloped Akane herself. The unexpected result caught her totally off guard, and surprised even Soon Li, knocking both to the ground before dissipating.

"Sorry," Akane said as she got back to her feet.

"No harm done," Soon Li said as she too returned to her feet. "Your control is a little lacking today. The Cyclone Assault needs precise control. You have to concentrate."

Akane nodded. "I know, I know, it's just that..." she started to say but stopped herself.

Soon Li frowned. "Hmm, okay then, that's enough for today. Why don't you go somewhere, have some fun. Get your mind off it," she suggested.

"Maybe I will," Akane replied, but did not seem very enthusiastic about the idea. Despite this, Soon Li gave her a soothing smile before leaving.

'Damn it,' Akane cursed mentally, before sighing and sitting down against the dojo wall. After a second, she set herself, determined, and closed her eyes to enter a breathing exercise. It was a simple enough one, and usually calming, but as with everything else she had tried, it did nothing. After several more seconds of trying to banish the thoughts weighing her down, only to have them became even stronger, Akane let a puff of air out in defeat, and shook her head. She brought her knees up, and propped her head on her hands.

'I got to get my head straight. This is not fair to Shampoo or Ranma,' she thought. The tears were long dried up and for a day or two there it seemed like it was just something that would quickly blow over. Unfortunately, a variety of independent factors seemed to be conspiring against her to make it so she just could not leave it behind.

The first and most obvious was the mere presence of Ranma. She could not avoid him. They went to the same school, were in the same class, and lived together. This had lead to a number of awkward moments since the decision. More than a few times Akane found herself wishing for a good argument just to break the tension between them, but he was treating her with supreme care.

That same issue was cause of frustration with Shampoo. Akane knew Shampoo was just trying to help, but she would avoid any talk of Ranma or the engagement. Unfortunately, since that was almost always connected in some way to the day's events, it ended up that the two just could not talk anymore. Try as she might to fill the silence between them, there just was not enough there to fill it without brushing against the issue of Ranma. The awkwardness of that was easily apparent to both and was leading them apart.

For the rest of her friends and family it was much the same. It was getting to the point that Akane wanted to yell at them to stop treating her like some fragile vase. Unfortunately, while that might crack the situation open, every time Akane played out the scenario in her mind, she could feel her own emotional barriers falling apart. Rather than show them that she was fine, she was sure it would show quite the opposite.

"Get in there!" Ranma suddenly said from just outside, and with that Ryoga stumbled into the dojo.

Akane looked at the boy in confusion. "Ryoga?" Akane said in surprise.

Ryoga tensed, and turned to her, nervously smiling. "Ahhhh, Ak.. Aka... Akane, how nice to see you," he stuttered out, trying to maintain a smile all the while.

Akane forced herself to smile in return. "Uh... you too. Where you been?"

"Oh... ah... uh... umm... places," Ryoga feebly offered.

"Oh," Akane replied, already sensing that Ryoga was yet another in a long line of distractions sent her way. As this thought hit her, she reflexively bowed her head.

Taking a quick peek in, Ranma quickly prompted in a whisper, "Would you just do it already!"

"Okay, okay," Ryoga said over his shoulder before steeling himself and nervously approaching Akane.

Akane noticed this and looked up. "Do you want something Ryoga?"

Ryoga swallowed nervously. "Ahh, Akane, I... I wanted... Would you... I mean... Could you, maybe, possibly, ahhh... go on a d... d... d... d..." As Ryoga stammered, his eyes glossed over and he suddenly fell forward. Akane snapped immediately into action, catching him just short of the floor.

"Ryoga? Ryoga, are you okay? Ryoga!" Akane said in concern as she shook him, but he remained unresponsive.

Ranma once more peeked in, unnoticed by Akane and sighed at seeing the situation. Withdrawing, he looked over to the walkway where Nabiki and Shampoo were waiting in anticipation. A shake of his head was all the answer they needed for them to hang their heads in defeat.

"This is never going to work!" Ranma said quietly as he came over to them. "The dope fainted. He's too chicken to ask!"

Nabiki went into thought. "This is not a problem. I've anticipated this very thing."

"Oh?" Shampoo asked skeptically.

"Yes, just need a slight change in plans," Nabiki said when a thought hit her. "Keep Ryoga here. I'll be back in a while," she said before rushing off.

Shampoo frowned. "Shampoo think she just making this up as goes along."

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm willing to try anything at this point," Ranma said to which Shampoo could only nod in agreement.

XXXXX

In truth, Nabiki had anticipated some trepidation from Ryoga, but was convinced that the boy, with the proper motivation, could at least get through the question before succumbing. Shampoo, Ranma and herself had done just that, give him a load of motivation before hand and it had looked to be working, but of course it did not.

'Nope, I'm not letting this one fail, even if Ryoga is a coward!' she thought as she arrived at her destination, the Nekohanten. Today was Soun's turn as cook and Perfume's on waitress duty. The latter was Nabiki's target, and she approached the Amazon just as she finished with a customer. "Hey Perfume, I need to talk to you."

Perfume paused and looked at Nabiki suspiciously. "What you want?"

Nabiki smiled in her usual sly way. "Just a little deal. Come on, let's talk outside." Perfume considered then nodded. "Dad, I'm borrowing Perfume for a minute. We'll be right back," she called out as the pair walked into the street.

"Alright, what deal?" Perfume asked curiously.

Nabiki looked about, thinking aloud, "I recall that Shampoo had some training in the use of special herbal shampoos in her youth. So, that got me to thinking, there is actually a line of similar perfumes. You wouldn't happen to be so equipped with such, would you?"

Perfume frowned but nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Mix 612?" Nabiki asked, betraying a bit of hope.

"Yes," Perfume replied simply.

"Would you be willing to part with it?"

"No," Perfume answered flatly.

'Damn, oh well,' Nabiki thought before asking, "How about for a little compensation?"

"There's nothing I want from you, Nabiki Tendo," Perfume replied turning away to return to the restaurant, but Nabiki pressed on.

"Really? So, how's your hunt for Mikado going?" Nabiki asked suggestively.

Perfume growled. "He tricky, he move and cover trail well. Can no find him now."

"What would you say if I told you I knew where you could find him?"

Perfume turned back to Nabiki in surprise. "What?! You lie!" she said in disbelief.

"I don't lie. I'll tell you where you can find Mikado if you give me mix 612," Nabiki offered.

"Why you want 612? It just last few minute anyway. Hardly worth it," Perfume asked.

Nabiki considered then replied, "It's something to do with Akane." Perfume frowned at Nabiki's evasive reply. "I only need a little of it, actually. I can give it right back when I'm done."

Perfume considered this for a minute then grabbed a small vial of liquid from inside her hair with the number 612 on it. "Here," she said as she handed over the bottle.

Nabiki took possession with a smile and pulled out a small notebook and pen. A moment later she handed a piece of paper from the notebook to Perfume. "That's his new address."

Perfume looked at the paper with an evil smile on her face, before growing curious. "How you know where he at?"

"It is valuable information, I make it a point to know such," Nabiki replied simply. "Now Perfume, you do realize that homicide is illegal in Japan?"

Perfume looked disappointed. "Okay, I just make his life living hell."

Nabiki shrugged and smiled. "Okay then, have fun. Oh, you might want to wait a couple days, I heard that Mikado's out of town," she advised before heading back the way she came. Behind her, Perfume pulled out her ax and checked the blade's sharpness with a smile.

XXXXX

Back at the Tendos', Akane, with the help of Ranma and Shampoo, had moved Ryoga to the common room and onto some blankets. He was still unconscious and unresponsive to anything they tried. Akane placed a damp cloth on his forehead, still looking concerned.

"I hope he's okay," she said.

"He just fainted, that's all," Ranma said dismissive from the nearby table.

"Maybe I should get Dr. Tofu," Akane thought aloud.

"Nah, he'll be-" Ranma started to say before Shampoo cut him off.

"No, we go get him, okay?" Shampoo said eagerly, giving Ranma a particular look.

Ranma puzzled for a second before cluing in and quickly got to his feet. "Ah, sure, yeah, let's go. Better safe than sorry," he said quickly.

Akane looked at them curiously as Shampoo and Ranma left. 'What are they up to?' she wondered but dismissed the matter with a sigh and returned to tending to Ryoga. After several more minutes Nabiki returned.

"Still out, is he?" She commented as she came into the room.

"Uhhuh," Akane responded before blinking in realization. "Wait a sec, how did you know?"

"Ranma told me," Nabiki said, pointing behind her.

Akane looked at Nabiki skeptically for a second, but a slight moan from Ryoga redirected her attention. "Oh. I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he is, just too much excitement for him," Nabiki said as she walked over and took a look.

Akane looked up at her sister in confusion. "Excitement?"

"As if you don't know," Nabiki said with a sly grin.

"Know what?" Akane said in confusion.

"Oh, don't act so naive sis, you're not fooling me," Nabiki pressed on, waving her finger at Akane in mock disapproval.

Akane rose to her feet, tense. "Nabiki! What are you talking about?!"

"You mean you really don't know?" Nabiki said with seeming surprise.

"Know what?!" Akane nearly yelled in frustration.

Nabiki looked at Akane in seeming skepticism. "No fooling?"

"No!" Akane once more nearly yelled. "I haven't a clue what you're talking about!"

"Oh, that would explain it," Nabiki said as if realizing something.

"Would you mind telling me what this is all about?!" Akane demanded, her frustration near its peak.

"Well, I don't know-" Nabiki replied in mock uncertainty.

"Nabiki!" Akane now threatened, causing her sister to raise her hands defensively.

"Okay, okay, you convinced me. But, not here. Come on," Nabiki directed and lead Akane into the hall and out of sight of Ryoga. "Seeing as how you don't know, I really shouldn't be telling you this, but... alright. You see, Ryoga had something really important to ask you."

"What? What was he going to ask me?" Akane asked, suddenly tense.

Nabiki held her chin in consideration. "Well, that I can't tell you."

"Nabiki!"

Nabiki shook her head. "Sorry Akane, Its not like I don't want to. I don't want to tell you one thing and be wrong. I mean, honestly I'm not positive, just taking an educated guess. He was really excited... but, if I'm wrong it could be really embarrassing..."

"How much?" Akane asked tiredly.

Nabiki cringed, but shook her head. "Nonono, this is a matter of principle."

Akane growled. "A lot of help you are!" she complained.

Nabiki smiled inwardly. 'This is working better than I thought. She's all worked up now.' "Have patience sis, he'll ask you when he's ready," Nabiki said then once more put on the act of uncertainty. "Of course, maybe he's too afraid to ask."

"WHAT?! Why would he be afraid of me?!" Akane exclaimed.

"Gee, I don't know," Nabiki replied.

Just then, Ranma and Shampoo returned, followed by Dr. Tofu. "So, where's the young man?" the doctor asked as they entered.

Akane calmed herself and pointed to the common room. "In there, Dr. Tofu."

Dr. Tofu nodded in acknowledgment and headed into the room. With Akane distracted for the second, Ranma and Shampoo gave Nabiki a questioning look. She responded with a smile and a nod, prompting them to follow the doctor in.

Nabiki thought for a moment then gestured for Akane to come in closer. "Actually, if you really want to know, I may just have the trick right here," she said in a whisper, pulling the vial of 612 perfume from her pocket.

Akane looked at the bottle in puzzlement. "What's that?"

"It's a special perfume formulation I got off of Perfume. It causes anyone who smells it to become super confident for a minute. Figured I could find a good use for it, and now just might be such a time."

"Then he'd be able to ask me," Akane realized aloud.

Nabiki nodded. "Should be able to."

"Well, give it to me then," Akane demanded and Nabiki handed over the vial. After briefly examining the bottle, she opened it and applied a few drops to her neck. "I don't feel any different. Sure this stuff works?" she asked in uncertainty as she took a smell of the liquid inside before closing it.

"Oh, it only works on men, not women," Nabiki amended.

Akane nodded in understanding before looking back at the common room. "Okay then," she said with resolve and entered the room. Behind her, Nabiki smiled in triumph before following.

Inside, Dr. Tofu had managed to awaken Ryoga who was now sitting up. While the others watched, he finished his examination. "He'll be fine. Just fainted, that's all," he concluded.

"That's what I said," Ranma said before getting an elbow jab from Shampoo.

"Thank you, Dr. Tofu," Akane said with a smile.

"No problem at all," Tofu said and started to head out. He passed by Akane and, as he did so, paused. "Hmm, what a pleasant..." he said dreamily before suddenly growing serious. "Does Kasumi happen to be home?"

"Yeah, I think she's in the kitchen," Ranma answered, both he and Shampoo looked surprised by the ease at which the doctor brought said topic up. Tofu gave Ranma a quick nod of thanks before rushing from the room. "What's with him?" he asked.

Nabiki peaked into the hall to see Tofu enter the kitchen where he announced himself to Kasumi. "Oops," she whispered before returning her attention to the others. "Oh well. Ah, Ranma, you might want to..." she began to warn, but it was already too late as he too was now smelling the air and looking a bit different.

"Hey, that smells..." Ranma commented with a pleasant smile. Like Tofu before him, his expression quickly grew more serious and he turned his attention on a still confused Shampoo. He quickly considered and grabbed her by the wrist. "Shampoo, let's go talk somewhere."

Shampoo, by this point totally confused about what exactly was going on, could only follow as Ranma pulled her from the room and into the yard. "Ranma, you okay?"

"I'm great!" he replied as he and Shampoo left sight.

'It is definitely working,' Nabiki thought before leaning into Akane and whispering, "I think you better take that stuff off after."

"Ahh, yeah," Akane replied, looking after Shampoo and Ranma in uncertainty.

"Here, I'll leave you two alone," Nabiki said, quickly leaving before Akane could protest.

Akane had been about to do just that, feeling suddenly nervous. 'What am I nervous about?' she asked herself and shook her head to dismiss the unwanted feeling and returned her attention to Ryoga.

The lost boy was no less puzzled by the strange behavior of Ranma and Tofu than Shampoo was, but did not get any longer to ponder it as Akane approached him and sat down, trying to smile comfortingly.

"Ryoga, Nabiki said you had something important to ask me," Akane prompted, causing Ryoga to once more be gripped by nervousness.

"Well, I... well... I... kinda..." he started to stammer just as a light breeze went through the room. Like Ranma and Tofu before him, Ryoga caught the sent. For a second it was simply calming, then Ryoga blinked, wondering just what was the trouble. All his worries about rejection were quickly deemed unimportant and Ryoga looked at Akane seriously. "Akane, will you go out with me?"

Akane was caught completely off guard by this. "Ahhh, go out with you?" she repeated in shock.

Ryoga took Akane's hands into his own and gazed into her eyes. "Akane, you are the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful person I know. I am hardly worthy of even being next to you, but please say yes."

Akane was dumbstruck. As the seconds ticked away she finally reassembled some sense and finally managed to respond, "sure, why not." A small, honest smile, formed on her face.

Out in the hall, peeking in, Nabiki grinned to her self and nodded before heading off to the kitchen. The sight within pulled her to a stop as Tofu apparently had gone even further than Ryoga, and currently had Kasumi embraced and in a kiss.

"Hmm, powerful stuff," Nabiki quietly remarked before noticing Shampoo walk by, a huge grin on her face. "Very powerful," Nabiki amended.

XXXXX

The next morning the residents of the Tendo home were all gathered for breakfast, including Ryoga. Ryoga was tense after his encounter with Akane the previous day, and more so now because Akane was sitting right next to him. For Akane's part, although not nearly as nervous as Ryoga, Shampoo could tell she was far from relaxed.

Shampoo had to give Nabiki credit. If nothing else, this little scheme had certainly distracted Akane. For the first time in weeks she had not gone on one of her nightly walks, instead spending much of the night fussing over having been blind sided by Ryoga's feelings. Even now, with Shampoo and Ranma sitting next to each other across from her, Akane had paid them little mind, more preoccupied with her new situation.

As Akane neared the end of her meal, she finally spoke up. "Ah, I'll met you here, after school, okay Ryoga?" she asked.

Ryoga started and nervously began playing with his fingers. "Ahh, yeah, s... sure."

Soun suddenly looked up at this. "Is my little girl going on a date?" he asked.

"Well..." Akane started, blushing just slightly in embarrassment. This feeling was quickly compounded when, displaying speed that seemed to rival Soon Li's, he popped up behind Akane and Ryoga. Seizing each by the shoulder in such a way that forced them to lean towards each other, Soun beamed.

"Wonderful! Ryoga, I expect you to show Akane a good time," Soun said happily.

"Dadddd!" Akane complained as her minor embarrassment turned major.

Ryoga, who by this point was likewise blushing, managed to respond. "I'll be sure to do that, Mr. Tendo."

Soon Li looked at the couple in curiosity and amusement, then cast a glance over at Nabiki, Shampoo and Ranma. All three quickly found things to divert their attention. Dismissing that for the moment, Soon Li returned her attention to Akane and Ryoga. "I hope you have a nice night, but no later than ten you two."

"Uh... Alright," Akane replied, relieved as this prompted her father to finally release them and return to his place.

Suddenly a knock at the front door was heard. "International Delivery!" A man's voice called out.

"I'll get it," Kasumi said with her usual smile, and headed out. A moment later she returned carrying a letter.

"A letter? Who's it for, Kasumi?" Nabiki asked.

"It's for Shampoo," Kasumi replied as she handed the letter over.

Everybody took notice of this, looking curiously over. "Who's it from?" Ranma asked what everyone was interested in.

"No know. Shampoo no know anyone in USA," Shampoo said as she looked over the return address before opening it up. "It in Chinese," she said in surprise and began reading, her mood shifting as she did, first to puzzlement, then finally to tension.

"Well?" Ranma asked cautiously.

Shampoo did not reply, instead handing the letter back to Kasumi. Kasumi took that as a prompt and began reading it aloud. "Hmm, it says: Dear Shampoo, I have at last found the great treasure I have been searching for all these years. It took me quite a while to track you down but finally I am coming. I should arrive on the night you receive this letter. It is very important that I speak to you. It's signed Mousse."

"Mousse! I heard that name before," Ranma thought aloud.

"Yes, he one that get Shampoo cursed!" Shampoo replied, betraying a bit of anger.

Soon Li took the letter from Kasumi as Kasumi returned to her meal. "Hmm, he gave it specific delivery instructions so I'd say he is probably coming tonight. It seems important, whatever it is. I wonder what this treasure is?"

"A little dramatic, don't you think?" Nabiki commented

Shampoo huffed.

"Are you going to talk to him?" Soon Li asked.

Shampoo looked off at the yard, giving only a, "Hmm," in reply.

"We would understand if you don't-" Soun began to say, but Shampoo cut him off.

"No, Shampoo speak with Mousse," she said, looking back at the others.

Nabiki grinned. "Is this guy the real sympathetic sort?"

"No even think about it, Nabiki!" Shampoo warned.

Nabiki waved this off. "Just a joke," she said, but Shampoo continued to frown at her.

"Maybe I should stay home," Akane said suddenly.

Just as suddenly, Nabiki, Shampoo, Ranma and even Soun replied, "No!" The effect of this was enough to cause Akane to pull back in shock.

"No need to ruin Akane's evening too. You go, Shampoo be fine," Shampoo quickly added with a forced smile.

Ranma joined her. "Yeah. Besides, I'll be here."

"And so will we," Soun added, pulling Genma in close by the shoulder. Genma was initially surprised, but quickly nodded.

"Yeah sis, nothing's going to happen. You just go out and have a good time," Nabiki said at last.

"Ahh, okay," Akane said as she reset her positioning. She nearly opened her mouth to add something, but seeing everyone watching her intensely caused her to drop the idea.

XXXXX

A short time later, Nabiki, Ranma, Shampoo and Akane were on their way to school. Akane had drifted to the front of the group, allowing the others to gather a short distance behind.

"You two didn't..." Nabiki began to ask in whisper.

Ranma paled and quickly shook his head. "No!" he replied, also in whisper. "What happened anyway? I mean, everything felt so easy all of a sudden."

"Oh, just some stuff that makes you hyper confident," Nabiki explained with a sly smile.

"Oh," Ranma replied in some confusion. "But didn't last long... That's really what I wanted to do?"

"Come on, Saotome. You are a man now, aren't you?" Nabiki teased, causing Ranma to blush and look away.

Shampoo slowed down a bit to walk next to Ranma, smiling seductively at him. "Maybe we continue where left off later, hmm?" she said.

"Ahh, well..." he replied before desperately changing topics. "Are you sure Ryoga won't wander off?"

"Don't worry about it. Kasumi promised to keep an eye on him. I made sure to emphasize how important this date was to her, so he won't be going anywhere. Nothing can go wro-"

"Akane Tendo!" Kuno called out up ahead.

"I shouldn't have even opened my mouth," Nabiki said tiredly as she and the other looked ahead to see Kuno standing before Akane with a huge bouquet of red roses..

"It has come to my attention that you have lost the protection that the pig-tailed one afforded you, but fear not. I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, shall protect you from those unworthy masses that would seek your company," Kuno declared.

"Oh, great!" Ranma said in a sigh.

"Ahh, that's nice of you Kuno, but I'll be fine," Akane said.

Kuno covered his eyes with his hands, weeping. "Ah, I am moved by your bravery but I cannot allow you to face such a challenge alone."

"Maybe Shampoo should knock him-" Shampoo began to say, already taking a step forward.

"No, I'll handle this," Nabiki quickly intervened. Walking forward, she grabbed Kuno by the wrist. "Kuno babe, ah, we need to talk." Confused, Kuno allowed himself to be pulled away, out of earshot of the others. "You're going about this all wrong, Kuno."

"How do you mean?" Kuno asked suspiciously.

Leaning in close, prompting him to do likewise, Nabiki whispered into his ear, "You can't go openly spreading around that Akane's no longer spoken for. Every guy in school will go after her as soon as they find that out."

"Of course! Such knowledge should be kept confidential," Kuno said in sudden realization.

"Precisely, and that means you can't go chasing after Akane in public, right?" Nabiki added.

Kuno went into thought. "Yes, I see your point. Others may have spies all around, waiting for their moment to strike."

Nabiki hesitated. "Y...yeah."

"I shall take your words to heart, Nabiki Tendo," Kuno said and began walking off in thought.

"Good, see you around," Nabiki said as he departed then returned to the others. "All taken care of."

The others sighed in relief. After Nabiki rejoined the group, they continued on their way, Akane looking at Nabiki is a mixture of suspicion and surprise. "You're being unusually... charitable in the last few days," she noted.

"Yes, well, don't get used to it," Nabiki cautioned.

Akane shook her head, dismissing that matter and turning to another. "Why didn't anyone tell me Ryoga liked me?"

"Shampoo thought was obvious," Shampoo replied.

"Yeah, it was pretty obvious," Ranma agreed.

Akane tensed in frustration. "It was not!" she protested. "You guys didn't put him up to this, did you?"

"Up to asking you out, yes," Nabiki admitted. "But," she quickly added, "he definitely likes you. That part was all him. Besides, it was really you who got him to ask."

"I... you tricked me to do that," Akane protested once more. "Poor Ryoga nearly fainted again after the perfume wore off."

"Well, at least he didn't propose," Nabiki replied.

"Like anyone would do that," Ranma said.

XXXXX

Later, Kuno was siting in the empty kendo club hall, contemplating. 'I've have come to a quandary. I must protect my love Akane from those that would unrightfully seek her company yet I cannot be seen with her for fear of revealing that she is now available. Hmmmm.'

After pondering this for a long moment, a small man in a black ninja outfit came in from the shadows in a rush, tripped, recovered and knelt before Kuno. "Master," he said in greeting.

"Ahh, Sasuke, what have you to report?" Kuno asked.

"Ahh, well, actually nothing, Master. Things seems to be as normal as ever," Sasuke replied.

"Hmm, yes but they will not be for long. I must find a way to protect Akane without being seen with her," Kuno said.

"Perhaps I-"

Kuno let out a laugh. "You! You couldn't fight your way out of a wet paper bag! No, there must be another way."

Sasuke took the insult without complaint, "Of course, Master," he said meekly before offering, "Perhaps a disguise?"

"A disguise?! I, Tatewaki Kuno, could never stoop to the level of deception," Kuno said in disgust.

"Of course-" Sasuke began to say, before Kuno cut him off.

"But, I could travel in concealment," Kuno said.

"In concealment, Master?" Sasuke repeated in confusion.

"All I need do is wear attire that no one would suspect the great Tatewaki Kuno to wear. Yes, that's it, no one will suspect that it is actually the Blue Thunder that watches over the lovely Akane," Kuno analyzed, already impressed with his own plan.

"I see, Master, a disguise without an actual disguise. How ingenious of you," Sasuke praised.

Kuno nodded and smiled confidently. "Of course. Come Sasuke, there's not a moment to lose. To the clothing stores!"

Soon Kuno left the club room with Sasuke following closely behind. Neither noticed Shampoo on the roof, watching and shaking her head in annoyance. After a second more, she got up and jumped off the roof, vaulted off several other nearby buildings and landed behind the equipment locker where Ranma and Nabiki were waiting.

"It no work. He use disguise to stay near Akane," Shampoo said.

Nabiki sighed tiredly. "Got to give him credit. He's persistent," she said and thought for a moment, but nothing was coming to her. "Well, I'm fresh out of ideas."

"Maybe I could just knock him cold for the night," Ranma said, emphasizing the idea with a fist.

"No, Kuno quick recovery. You need knock out several times. Attract attention, that bad," Shampoo replied.

"And even Kuno's thick skull has limits. Don't want to do any lasting damage," Nabiki added.

"Yeah, guess so. Besides, I don't like the idea of hitting someone while they're down, even him," Ranma conceded.

All three entered thought for a moment before Nabiki got the start of an idea. "All we need to do is keep him distracted all night. Hmmm," she said then turned smiling deviously to Ranma. "Ranma, Kuno really likes your girl half, right?"

"Oooohhhh no!" Ranma said, quickly withdrawing and waving his hands in warding. "No way! Uh uh! Not a chance!"

"Oh come on. You don't need to do anything serious with him. Just get him to take you somewhere, a movie or dinner or something, just long enough for Akane and Ryoga to get through their date," Nabiki argued.

"Hey, you don't know what it's like! It's sickening having another guy in love with you!" Ranma protested.

Shampoo considered, but finally turned to Ranma. "Please Ranma. For Shampoo? For Akane?" she pleaded, putting on her most convincing look. "Shampoo would do self, but..."

"Yeah, I know, Mousse..." Ranma said, trying to resist the girls combined pleading looks. Nabiki's he found easy to ignore, but Shampoo's finally cracked through. "Err, okay, okay, okay! I'll do it! I'll do it! Just stop looking at me that way!"

Shampoo suddenly hugged him. "Oh, much thanks, Ranma."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm not going to like this," Ranma said sadly. "And only this once. After this, Ryoga is on his own. I'm just doing this for Akane's sake."

XXXXX

After school, back at the Tendo home in Ranma's room, Ryoga was just finishing dressing in a borrowed black tuxedo. Nervously he fiddled with the tie in front of a mirror before Ranma came up behind him and swatted him on the back of the head lightly.

"Stop messing with it! It's fine," Ranma said.

"You sure?" Ryoga asked in uncertainty.

"Yes! Now just relax would you!" Ranma replied with a frown.

Ryoga nodded, and stared at himself in the mirror, forcing himself to breath deeply. "Relax. Yeah, that's it, relax. I can do this. I mean, after all, it's only a... d... d... d... d..." he said, succumbing suddenly to nervousness at the end.

"A date. A date! Man Ryoga, if you get through this alive it'll be a miracle!" Ranma exclaimed in frustration.

"You're not helping!"

"Well, if you would relax..."

XXXXX

Down the hall and in Akane and Shampoo's bedroom, Akane also stood in front of a mirror wearing a yellow and white flowery dress with gem-stud earrings. Nabiki and Shampoo stood behind her, nodding approvingly.

"Isn't this a little much?" Akane asked nervously.

Nabiki shook her head. "No way. It's perfect."

"He said we're just going out. It is not that big of deal," Akane denied nervously.

"Going out with a boy is just another way of saying going out on a date," Nabiki argued.

"Date?!" Akane repeated.

"Yes, date. You're not nervous are you?" Nabiki asked.

Akane shook her head. "No! Of course not!"

"Then there shouldn't be any problem."

Akane bite her lower lips for a second. "Are you sure you're going to be okay, Shampoo?" she asked.

Shampoo frowned. "Shampoo be fine, and stop look for excuse to no go."

"You know, this isn't exactly what I was expecting to be asked," Akane said.

"Yeah, well, you said yes, didn't you?" Nabiki pointed out.

"Well... ah... yes, I guess I did," Akane admitted.

"Then stop worrying and go out and have a good time already!" Nabiki ordered.

Akane looked back at them, then once more at the mirror in uncertainty before firming herself. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm ready then," she said and turned away, before regressing and asking, "You sure this isn't too much?"

Nabiki, having reached the end of her patience, grabbed onto Akane's arm and pulled her out the door. "Sure I'm sure. Now come on."

Akane managed to pull herself free of the grasp just as they entered the hall. However, there she caught sight of Ryoga, who was now waiting with a bouquet of mixed flowers which if Akane were to guess were in fact hand picked. That and the tuxedo pulled her up short.

Likewise, the still nervous Ryoga took notice of Akane. Immediately he went into a wide eyed stunned state at seeing her.

After a moment of mutual silence, Akane finally broke her own shock to step forward. "Oh, Ryoga, those are for me?" she asked.

"Ahhh... Ahhhh... Ahhhh... Yeah," Ryoga managed to reply. He looked down at the flowers stupidly for a second as if unable to figure out what exactly to do with them, before finally his mind kicked in and he offered them to Akane.

"Thanks Ryoga, that's really sweet of you," Akane said. "Did you pick them yourself?"

Ryoga smiled nervously. "Well... ah, yeah. Kasumi helped me."

As another silent moment began to take hold, Nabiki forestalled such but giving Akane a push. "Okay, you two, the evening is a wasting here. I'll put these in some water for you."

"Ah, right," Akane said, and building up her courage took Ryoga by the hand. Ryoga immediately went into a silly grin and nearly zoned out before Ranma gave him another swat to the head.

"Concentrate," Ranma whispered before Ryoga could protest.

"Right," Ryoga said and looked to Akane.

"Shall we go?" Akane asked with a smile.

"Ahh, yeah... YEAH! Let's go," Ryoga said and lead the way down the stairs.

After exchanging their goodbyes, everyone within let out a collective sigh of relief.

However, for Ranma, that relief was short live. "Ahhh, man, I guess that means I got to get going."

"Yep," Nabiki said. "Just keep Kuno away from Akane and Ryoga, that's all. And if you do happen to get close, don't let Akane see you. Who knows how she'd react."

"Right," Ranma acknowledged before turning to Shampoo. "Shampoo, you sure this Mousse guy won't be any trouble?"

"No trouble," Shampo answered.

Ranma nodded, sighed, and walked to the stairs. "Okay then, guess I'll be off."

After Ranma departed, Shampoo and Nabiki noticed Kasumi was likewise readying to leave. "Where you off to, Kasumi?" Nabiki asked curiously.

"I promised to meet Dr. Tofu for dinner tonight. We were going to discuss the wedding plans."

"Oh, alright, have a good... wait... WHAT?!" Nabiki said, her surprise shared by Shampoo

"Oh, didn't I mention. Dr. Tofu proposed to me yesterday," Kasumi said with a wide smile. Clutching her hands in front of her in delight, she added, "It was so romantic, I just couldn't refuse."

"Uh... I know he likes you and all, sis, but don't you think this is a little sudden?" Nabiki said, still a bit in shock.

"Sudden? Oh, I suppose it is a bit sudden, but we do see each other a great deal," Kasumi replied.

"See each other?" Shampoo stepped up to ask. "When?"

"Now and then. You're usually at school at the time," Kasumi replied. "Anyway, I should be going."

"Right," Nabiki replied weakly, giving her sister a goodbye wave as she departed, taking note that Kasumi even had a new ring on. "Geez, he even got her a ring," Nabiki commented as Kasumi left. "Has he been carrying that thing around the whole time?"

"Guess so," Shampoo concluded with a confused shrug.

Before either could further dwell on this, Soun came into view, fighting back tears.

"Ah, Daddy, you okay?" Nabiki asked.

Soun sniffled, and answered, "I'm just so... so... happy! Kasumi and Shampoo are getting married, and my little Akane is out on her first date."

Nabiki let out a sigh of mild disgust. "Right daddy."

After a few more seconds, Soun turned suddenly serious and looked hard at Nabiki. "So, what about my other little girl?"

"Ahh, me?" Nabiki asked in sudden nervousness.

"Of course," Soun said.

"Well, I got... plans," Nabiki offered feebly, for the first time in a long time feeling truly nervous.

Fortunately, this seemed to be enough for Soun as he broke into a joyful smile. "Wonderful! Bring him over the first chance you get." With that, Soun returned to the common room, allowing Nabiki to release a heavy sigh of relief.

"I got myself into this predicament, didn't I?" Nabiki commented, looking to Shampoo who only smiled and nodded.

XXXXX

A short time later, a now female Ranma stood at the gate to a very large home, that owned by the Kuno family. Sighing one last time, she steeled herself and knocked on the gate a few times then waited impatiently. Finally, Sasuke opened the gate.

"Welcome to the great and noble house of Kuno madame. What can I..." The Kuno family ninja began to say before recognizing their guest. "You're Ranma aren't you?"

"Uhhuh," Ranma replied. "Could you get Kuno for me?"

"Of course," Sasuke said and rushed off to the main house.

Ranma watched him enter, and leaned against the gateway to wait. 'I can't believe I'm doing this,' she thought before suddenly finding Kuno in front of her with a bouquet of red roses. 'Geez, he's pretty fast,' Ranma thought in wonder.

"Ahh, my pig-tailed goddess, what brings you to my humble abode this night?" he asked.

"Well actually, I was kinda wondering... what you're doing tonight?" Ranma asked. 'Maybe he's just staying in and I can get out of here.'

Looking off to the street dramatically, Kuno replied. "Tonight I must set out to protect the fair Akane Tendo."

'Rats!'

"It is so unfortunate that you were forced to make a choice to avert suspicions as to your nature," Kuno continued causing Ranma to become angry.

"I'm a gu..." Ranma started to exclaim, but caught herself. 'Not tonight, got to keep him busy. Just drop it,' she thought, took a breath, then said, "Yeah, right, very unfortunate."

Kuno offered the roses to Ranma. "Please accept these with my sincere apologies, but I must now prepare for the night ahead. I hope that we will not be parted for long, my love. Good day."

Ranma reluctantly accepted the bouquet but as Kuno turned to leave spoke. "And I was so hoping that you'd be able to take me out tonight," she said in a halfhearted disappointed voice that most would see through easily. Kuno was not most though.

Instantly, the kendoist was back at Ranma's side, holding her hand. "I would not think of dashing your hopes, my pig-tailed one. Of course I will allow you to date with me this night."

With a forced smile, Ranma replied, "Great!"

XXXXX

At roughly about that moment, across town a way, within a western style restaurant, Akane and Ryoga were sitting at a table together looking over the menu. A waiter stood nearby, patiently smiling and waiting for their orders.

Ryoga puzzled over the menu, sweating nervously, before pointing to one particularly menu item. "ah, what's this?"

"That's prime rib sir. It's considered quite a delicacy," the waiter politely replied.

"Okay then, that sounds good. I'll have that," Ryoga said with a bit of relief.

"And how would you want that?" the waiter asked as he took down the order.

"Ahh, cooked?" Ryoga suggested in uncertainty.

The waiter paused, smiled, and continued writing on his pad. "Yes, of course. And you madame?"

"Umm," Akane said as she too was having trouble with the menu. "I'll try that too," she said after a few seconds.

"Certainly," the waiter replied and headed off after retrieving the menus.

With nothing else to distract, the two were now forced to give their attention to the other. Ryoga gave Akane a nervous glance but quickly stared down at his drink.

"We could have gone somewhere else," Akane suggested.

"Nono, this is fine," Ryoga said quickly.

"Okay."

Ryoga reasserted a measure of courage and looked up, giving Akane a nervous smile, but could not hold it and quickly returned to his examination of his drink. Although Akane too was feeling nervous, she was considerably more controlled than Ryoga. She shook her head in mild amusement at her partner's plight, and reached across the table to gently touch Ryoga's hand.

"Come on Ryoga, relax a little," she said in a calming tone.

Unfortunately, this seem to do anything but calm Ryoga. He did look up, but the cup he was holding began to shake. "Oh, I'm not nervous. I'm fine, really!" Ryoga said, almost squeaking. Before Akane could reply, the cup shattered.

"Yeah, right," Akane said with a smile, but could not help but laugh inwardly.

XXXXX

Back at the Tendo home, Shampoo laid on her bed, thinking. She too now had nothing to distract her, and was thinking about the coming encounter. For a minute her eyes were fixed on the ceiling, before she grew tired of that, and rolled over, adjusted to lay on her pillow and stare out the window. Unfortunately, after only a minute of that, she once more rolled over, this time putting her pillow over her face. This lasted only a few seconds before she tossed it aside and continued staring at the ceiling, her thoughts going far back.

XXXXX

It was nearly ten years ago, and a young Shampoo who looked like she had been having a rough time of things was staring out over the valley of springs before her. Each was a small pool, with tall bamboo sticks stuck vertically in them, sometimes several poles to the pool. This, of course, was Jusenkyo. It was at the time, for Shampoo, a place of myth, and many rumors. However, one thing was for sure, she did not want to be here.

Unfortunately, such was not her choice. Behind her, her great grandmother Cologne, a withered tiny old woman, barely two feet in height if even that, was balanced on her cane. The old woman, who up to a few weeks ago had been a stern but fair teacher of Shampoo as far back as she could remember, right now seemed on the verge of exploding in anger and Shampoo was not about to push her.

"**I care not for your excuses****,**" Cologne said sternly.

"**But-**" Shampoo tried to say, but was cut off.

"**No! You will train here until I am satisfied that you are worthy to return to the village. Is that understood?**" Cologne commanded.

Shampoo meekly nodded. "**Yes Great-grandmother.**"

Cologne seemed to relent some at this. "**Good. Go about your basic ex****ercises for now. I will return shortly and we will begin more intensive training. ****If I catch you slacking...**"

"**You won't****,**" Shampoo quickly interjected, gaining a scolding look for interrupting, but was let off with that.

"**I best not****,**" Cologne cautioned. "**Now, where is that silly guide?**" she wondered aloud and hopped off on her cane.

Despite the warning, Shampoo sighed and collapsed to the ground to rub her eyes, already beginning to sting. Things could get little worse, she had convinced herself. Just as she was considering getting up, a motion caught her attention. Turning in fright, fully expecting Cologne, she instead found a young boy in glasses she knew very well. However, his presence was little better than Cologne's.

The boy adjusted his glasses, and now sure of what he was seeing, called out in concern, "**Shampoo****!**"

"**Mousse, you scared me. What do you want?**" Shampoo asked in a mixture of relief and annoyance.

"**I just wanted to see if you were okay****,**" Mousse said with a concerned look.

"**I'm fine, now go away!**" Shampoo ordered.

Mousse approached another couple steps. "**Y****ou don't look fine.**"

"**Like you would know,**" she bitterly commented. "**I said I'm fine!**"

Mousse stopped his approach, searching for words. "**I... ****I heard you were being teased by everyone.**"

Shampoo angrily turned away. "**Yeah, so what?!**"

"**I just wanted to know if you wanted any help****?**" Mousse asked meekly.

"**I don't need any of your help, Mousse.**"

Mousse hesitated, but finally hung his head and nodded. "**Ahh, okay then****,**" he said sadly and started to turn away. After only a second though, he stopped, pushed his glasses up onto his forehead and turned back to Shampoo. "**I don't care what the others say, I still love you, Shampoo.**"

It normally was a declaration that Shampoo found irritating. Today, though, it felt comforting. "**You do?**"

"**Of course, I would love you no matters what!**" Mousse declared with more confidence.

"**You really don't mind that I'm weak?**" Shampoo asked, casting her eyes to the ground.

"**No!**" he said easily. "**Just makes you easier to beat,**" he added after a second in jest, but Shampoo took it quite differently.

Shampoo spun around to face Mousse, scared, backing off several steps, ending up unknowingly just short of a nearby pool. "**Don't you even dare Mousse! I'm not ready!**" she said in a fix of fear and pleading.

"**No! No! I did mean it. I was just joking****,**" Mousse quickly explained.

Examining him for a second, Shampoo let herself ease, but nonetheless, tears started to once more form in her eyes. "**I don't know what I'm going to do anymore. Great-grandmother is so mad at me. I don't know what's wrong with me****,**" she said, choking back at the end. Unable to control the emotion, she hid her face in her hands.

Mousse watched this in concern, and on impulse once more approached. "**Oh please Shampoo, don't cry****. I-**" he started to say, but just then snagged his foot on a protruding rock. It was enough to upset his balance and he stumbled forward.

Shampoo, her face still covered by her hands, could not see the threat in time. Mousse took two shaky steps forward in his attempt to recover, but unfortunately, the second step was right into Shampoo. Unprepared, she tumbled backwards and directly into the pool behind her, while Mousse fell to the ground, coming just short of the pool's edge. He pushed himself up to his hands and knees, but could see no signs of Shampoo.

At that moment, the Jusenkyo guide, who had been coming into the area from the opposite side and had taken notice of the two children finished his run to their position. "**Oh, I'm too late,**" he said with a sad shake of his head.

Mousse quickly put his glasses back on, and found a small pink and white cat now breaking the surface of the water and struggling in a panic. This momentarily confused the boy as he scanned the pool in a panic of his own for Shampoo. ""What happened?! Where's Shampoo?!" He asked desperately as he searched.

The guide reached into the pool and pulled the cat out. "**Th****is is**** her right ****here,**" he answered, shocking Mousse.

"**WHAT?!**" Mousse exclaimed in confusion.

"**These are the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo. This one here is the Maoniichuan, spring of drown cat. A cat drown here 1800 years ago. Now whatever falls in this spring takes the body of a cat. Such a waste****,**" the guide explained, the transformed Shampoo now in his arms ceasing her struggle to instead go into a numb shock.

Mousse, in denial shook his head, but as he continued to examine the cat in the guide's arms, the truth began to take hold. "**NO! Shampoo, I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean to. I...**" he started to say, but unable to face her any longer he bolted from the area.

XXXXX

By the time evening had arrived, Shampoo was dearly wishing for a situation as good as the morning. After finding Shampoo now cursed, Cologne had learned from the guide what had happened. As soon as she was transformed back, Shampoo had no time to feel relief at having her human body back. Instead she was instantly called to explain herself, and she could offer little in her defense.

They had returned to the village in silence, Shampoo not daring to say even a word. Whatever little patience she had from Cologne was now gone.

Arriving home, things went from bad to worse. Shampoo's parents were called over to Cologne's house where Shampoo was staying during her training. Cologne had explained the curse very tersely to both, and it was not long before an argument broke out. Shampoo soon found herself withdrawing into a corner of the home and trying to shield her ears.

As bad as that was, it just kept spiraling out of control. Shampoo risked looking into the other room where her mother was arguing with Cologne, and saw something truly disheartening: her mother was scared. Her mother and Cologne did not get along at the best of times. Shampoo knew little of the reasons behind this, but she had seen them argue on occasion. While those could be bitter arguments, they were never frightful. This was clearly far beyond any argument they had ever had before.

"**She has consistently brought shame and disgrace to this family and now she has this curse! I could possibly forgive this if it was not for the fact that she could have easily avoided it!**" Cologne yelled.

"**Grandmother-**" Shampoo's mother pleaded but was angrily cut off.

"**Would you defend this?**" Cologne asked harshly.

"**She said she wasn't prepared-**"

"**That is no excuse!**" Cologne shot back. "**She should have been prepared, especially in the presence of Mousse! Our family may never live down this shame! Already we have lost much respect with the other elder families!**"

"**I'm sure she can recover,**" her father offered, but Cologne silenced him with a glare.

"**She's had time to recover but if anything she has only showed signs of further degeneration! She even mocks my instruction by disobeying simple commands,**" Cologne said angrily.

"**I'm sure-**" Shampoo mother tried to say, but Cologne swung her cane threatening in her direction.

"**Don't question my judgment!**" Cologne ordered harshly, causing Shampoo's mother to withdraw a step in shock.

"**Why do I have to be a warrior anyway?!**" Shampoo suddenly blurt out, tears in her eyes. While she had intended the statement to defuse the situation, instead Cologne glared at her with even more intense anger.

Shampoo found her mother moving in front of her. "**She didn't-**" she began to say.

"**She did,**" Cologne said in a sudden quiet voice.

"**Grandmother!**" Shampoo's mother pleaded.

"**I don't wish to hear another word!**" Cologne snapped, silencing everyone. Cologne eyed Shampoo's parents, and seeing both meekly withdraw from such, continued. "**I see no other choice, Shampoo must be punished for this and there is only one suitable punishment****,**" she said evenly and refocused on Shampoo. This time the parents held their positions as Cologne spoke. "**Child, look at me!**" she ordered.

Shampoo, who had been looking to her parents only to find them looking away, now did as bidden. Cologne looked at her for a long moment, her expression unreadable, then finally spoke. "**You will leave this house by the end of the night and never return. You will not be recognized as a member of this family any longer.**"

It took a moment for Shampoo to comprehend what she was just told. Her parents, however, were shaken out of their silence. "**No, you cannot do-**" Shampoo's mother tried to say, but Cologne would not have it.

"**I have spoken! Do you wish to challenge me on this matter?**" Cologne asked, making clear to all that such a challenge was one that would be made not with words. Shampoo's mother and father both took this in shock.

Breaking into tears, Shampoo rushed forward. "**Please Great grandmother, I can get better.**"

Cologne coldly turned away. "**Do not expect to get any sympathy from me child. You are no longer my great granddaughter, so never speak to me as such again,**" she said dangerously before moving to the door. "**I suggest you gather your belongings. I expect you to be gone by the time I return. And do not think to find shelter in any of my family's company.**" Saying no more, Cologne left.

Shampoo's mother looked about, not sure what to do. After a moment, she looked to Shampoo, "**Shampoo, don't worry. We'll talk to her,**" she said, but the words felt hallow.

"**Do you really think she'll change her mind?**" her father asked, to which her mother could only beckon for him to follow. The two quickly left in pursuit of Cologne.

Shampoo could do little more than collapse to the floor in tears.

XXXXX

Her father would return an hour later. He would say many things: "**Be strong,**" "**You can get through this,**" "**Remember what you have been taught...**" However, in the end all he could seem to do was help her gather her things. His last instruction to her was to go to a small training area in the woods that offered at least some shelter for the night. Then she found herself alone.

She had not even made it to the training area when emotions once more overwhelmed her. Finding a nearby tree, she sat at its base, leaving a bag and her battered old training sword sheathed at her side. With her legs pulled up close, and her head sheltered on her crossed arms, she let herself succumb to her feelings.

How long passed she could not guess, but her solitude was broken by a voice.

"**Shampoo, I****...**" Mousse started to say as he approached her, but fell silent when Shampoo looked up at him.

Unfettered fury was clear on Shampoo's face. "**You! How could you?! Because of you and that stupid Akane I'll never be able to go home again!**" Shampoo yelled, her position already shifting, and her hand subconsciously reaching for her blade.

"**Shampoo, I'm sorry. It was an accident****,**" Mousse tried to explain, but it was useless.

Shampoo snatched up the sword, quickly tossed aside the sheath and faced Mousse. "**SORRY?!**" she yelled even louder. "**MY LIFE IS**** OVER****!**" Before Mousse could respond, she rushed forward in a blind rage.

Mousse's own training thankfully took hold, and he dodged and retreated a safe distance. "**Please Shampoo, I-**"

Shampoo roared, cutting him off as she charged recklessly. Mousse once more dodged, and this time Shampoo caught her foot on a root. She crashed forward and slid on the ground before coming to a halt. Hesitantly, Mousse tried to approach, but stopped when Shampoo return to her feet to face him. However, this time the rage was mixed with something else, tears streaming down her cheeks. After taking in a several breaths, Shampoo suddenly dashed away. She quickly snatched up the sheath and bag and ran into the woods.

Mousse called after her, but soon she left those sounds behind.

XXXXX

In the present day, Shampoo sat up in her bed. The memories still hurt, but not as much as they once did. For the first time of the night, though, she wished she could talk with Akane.

This thought was shelved as she caught the sound of knocking at the front door. 'It's probably him,' she thought, and got up and made her way to the front door. Reaching the door, and hesitating a moment, she finally opened it to find a teenage boy.

He had long black hair, and a thin white jacket with loose fitting black pants. Shampoo was momentarily puzzled as this boy, while similar in appearance to Mousse, had no glasses, either over his eyes or on his forehead as he too often had the bad habit of placing them there.

The boy seemed momentarily to be surprised himself, and after nervously smiling asked in uncertainty, "Shampoo?"

"Mousse?" Shampoo asked in kind.

The boy nervously nodded. "Ahh, yeah."

XXXXX

Off in the common room, Genma and Soun were deep into a game of Shogi, while Nabiki sat at the table looking through various ledgers and occasionally calculating something on an abacus. Suddenly a clap of thunder tore the air, toppling over the game board and sending papers flying.

"Hmm, I guess that's Mousse," Nabiki said with a sigh.

XXXXX

Elsewhere, Ranma was still enduring Kuno's company. The pair had gone to one of the local restaurants. Ranma sat at her seat, picking lethargically at her food.

'Usually I love eating but I just don't have an appetite right now,' she thought.

"Something troubles you my pig-tailed one?" Kuno asked, but immediately hit on an answer. "Of course, you worry about the lovely Akane."

"Well, actually-" Ranma started.

"I shall send for Sasuke and-"

"Nononono! No need for that. She's fine, I know," Ranma quickly interjected.

Kuno looked at Ranma in puzzlement. "You seem to be aware of something that I am not."

"Really?" Ranma asked innocently.

"Yes. Is it that someone has already made advances on my love?" Kuno asked, already tensing as if readying for combat.

"Nonono! Not a guy within 50 meters of her!" Ranma lied.

Kuno took this at face value, but switched tracks. "I see, then perhaps it is Shampoo that you fear for?"

"Nonono! She's fine, just meeting an old acquaintance of hers tonight," Ranma said.

"Old acquaintance?"

Ranma nodded vigorously. "Ah, yeah, old friend from China, yeah. Nothing to be concerned about there."

Kuno nodded in acceptance of this. "I see."

Ranma let out a sigh of relief. 'I'll just omit that said acquaintance is a guy,' she thought before noticing Kuno still deep in thought. 'Just great! Now he's thinking about Akane and Shampoo again. Better distract him.' "Say, Kuno, why don't we go to, say maybe, a movie after this? Yeah."

Kuno refocused on Ranma. "Ahh, yes, the theater, the fine art of the cinema, of course, I will gladly take you to a movie, my pig-tailed goddess."

Ranma looked disgusted for second but managed to quickly hide such with a forced smile. "Great." 'Please let this night be over soon!'

XXXXX

Back at the western restaurant where Akane and Ryoga were, they were both now into their meals.

"So, what do you think?" Akane asked.

"Ahh, great, best Prime Rib I've ever had," Ryoga said on nervous impulse.

"I thought you never had it before?" Akane said, giving Ryoga pause.

Ryoga hesitated, but finally admitted, "Ahh, well, yes, I haven't."

Akane let out a chuckle which Ryoga nervously shared.

Ryoga, still distracted, dug into a small side dish of whitish paste and put it into his mouth. He managed to maintain a straight face for about five seconds before his eyes went wide and started to water. After considerable effort, he managed to swallow.

"Be right back," Ryoga said in a raspy voice before getting up and rushing off.

Akane looked at her own identical meal at the side curiously. Experimentally she took a small amount and placed it on her tongue and immediately regretted it. Quickly she grabbed her drink to subdue the taste. "Horse radish I think, and a pretty nasty blend too," she thought aloud.

Recovered, Akane looked off at the way Ryoga left and went into thought. 'They set me up and I fell for it. Hmm, Ryoga is a nice guy though. He's trying so hard to impress me. I should have guessed that was why he stuck around so long. I guess I was just too caught up with Ranma,.' Frowning at herself, Akane shook her head. 'I got to stop this, I'm just torturing myself. He choose Shampoo, not me. I got to move on.' She took a moment to scan the room and seeing the several couples chatting and having a good time. 'Ryoga may be no Ranma but I do kinda like him.'

As another minute passed, a realization hit Akane and she looked around urgently. "Oh no," she said, but was relieved to see the waiter escorting Ryoga back from the kitchen, a large glass of water in hand which he was drinking.

"Now, sir, just remember the side is to add flavor, not for direct consumption," the waiter said as he returned the boy to the table.

"Right, right," Ryoga replied as he sat down.

"Hot?" Akane asked with an amused smile as the waiter headed off.

"Very," Ryoga replied.

'I don't know if this will work out, but I'm going to give it a try,' Akane concluded. "Say, Ryoga, do you want to go to a movie after this?"

Ryoga blinked in surprise but quickly nodded. "Ahh, sure."

"Great!"

XXXXX

Meanwhile, at the Tendos', Mousse was slowly recovering in the common room, an ice pack on his bruised cheek. Soun, Genma, Nabiki and Shampoo all sat around the room waiting for him to regain consciousness.

"You really walloped him good, didn't you!" Nabiki said with a bit of a laugh.

Shampoo frowned. She remembered a conversation with Perfume where she had said she would do just this, but honestly she really had not truly intended it at the time. However, on seeing him face to face, the emotion of the moment just seemed to overwhelm her.

"Looks like he's coming to," Genma said as Mousse stirred.

Weakly the boy sat up, holding his cheek painfully. "I guess I deserved that," he commented before looking around and noticing those around him.

"So, you're Mousse, huh?" Nabiki asked.

Mousse nodded. "Yes," he answered as he took stock of his situation. He quickly noticed Shampoo, who responded by looking away.

"Shampoo?" he asked nervously.

"Yes?" she asked in return.

"If you want to hit me again, go right ahead, I don't mind," he said quickly, and braced, but no such hit came.

"No, one time will do," Shampoo replied to Mousse's surprise.

"You're not mad at me anymore?" Mousse asked in uncertainty.

Shampoo considers her reply for a long moment before finally shaking her head. "No."

Mousse was momentarily shocked, then suddenly overwhelmed with joy. "Oh Shampoo, you don't know how much that means to me!" he said as he got up and started to approach her, but in a flash she was gone, moved to the outer walkway.

"Do no start that again!" she said harshly, stealing some of his energy. "What you here for? What treasure you talk about in letter?" she asked.

Mousse hesitated, but quickly shook it off and searched through his jacket. "Oh, that, ahhh, it's here somewhere, ahha!" he said at last, pulling a golden bracelet out. It was ornate, decorated with falcons together in flight, and for just an instant Shampoo thought she had seen it before.

The whole family took an interest in the object, particularly Nabiki. A second later, Mousse produced another item, a scroll which he handed off, Nabiki taking it.

"This is a magical artifact I found in North America just last year," Mousse explained.

"Magical? What's it do?" Genma asked curiously.

"I can use it to cure Shampoo," Mousse declared to every one's shock.

XXXXX

At that moment, Akane and Ryoga were sitting down together in the back of a theater. After looking around the theater curiously and seeing various people with snacks and drinks, Akane stood back up.

"I'm going to get us some popcorn or something, okay?" she said.

Ryoga impulsively stood up. "I'll come with you."

Akane pushed him back into the seat gently. "No, no, you stay here. Don't want you getting lost. Nearly made that mistake in the restaurant," she said with a grin.

"Ahh, yeah," Ryoga reluctantly agreed.

Akane gave him a comforting smile. "I'll be right back."

As Akane headed off down the aisle and out the theater door, Ryoga watched her go. Alone, Ryoga let himself relax some and smiled. 'I'm finally on a date with Akane. This is wonderful, but I need to relax. Nothing is going to go wrong. Yeah, everything will be just fine,' he thought with growing confidence until something caught his eye. Several rows ahead and off to the side a bit was a young woman with red hair and a pigtail. 'No, no, couldn't be,' Ryoga thought dismissively.

Unfortunately, Ryoga's assumption proved to be false as the girl turned, looking around as if mildly annoyed, but quickly stopped at seeing Ryoga, revealing she was indeed Ranma. Both went wide eyed at confirming the identity of the other, and Ranma jumped over the seats to reach Ryoga.

"What are you doing here? Where's Akane?" Ranma demanded.

"Me?! What are you doing here?" Ryoga asked in return.

"Where's Akane?!" Ranma repeated more urgently.

"Ahh, she went to get some popcorn," Ryoga said, looking to the theater door.

"NO!" Ranma said in a fluster. "Stay here, don't move, and don't tell Akane I'm here!" she instructed as she began dashing for the aisle.

"But-" is all Ryoga could get out before Ranma headed out the door. Left behind, he could only smile nervously as several other spectators looked at him questioningly.

XXXXX

Ranma reached the lobby and quickly spotted Akane in line at the concession stand, fortunately looking through her purse. A bit more looking and she spotted Kuno ahead of Akane in another line, just finishing his own purchase. "Oh no!" Ranma moaned, realizing the second Kuno turned he would spot Akane for sure.

Rushing into action, Ranma dashed through the crowd, crashing into several people, dodging by others, while simultaneously hiding herself from Akane. Kuno was just in the process of turning when Ranma arrived and distracted him by blocking his field of vision and hugging him around the neck.

"Kuno, darling, you can't leave me alone that long. I was getting lonely," Ranma said in a cutesy voice. 'I can't believe I just said that!'

"Oh, I am dearly sorry if I frightened you. I shall endeavor to never leave you unprotected again," Kuno replied.

"Right," Ranma replied and nervously looked over her shoulder at Akane. Thankfully the gathered crowd had jumbled sufficiently to block her view. "Come on, let's get going, we might miss something," she quickly said as she released the hug and grabbed him by the arm to drag him along.

Akane tried to peak over the crowd to see the commotion but missed both Kuno and Ranma. "I wonder what that was all about?" she wondered aloud, a couple others around her shrugging in response.

XXXXX

Back at the Tendo home, Mousse's words finally sunk in all the way.

"A cure?" Shampoo repeated.

"Yes," Mousse confirmed with an eager nod.

"You'll forgive us young man, but we've heard that many times before. Exactly how does this work?" Soun asked skeptically.

"Well, ever since Shampoo was cursed, I've been looking for a way to cure her. I wasn't that successful at first, until I found that scroll," Mousse explained as Nabiki looked said scroll over.

Nabiki frowned. "Looks like a pretty old dialect. I can't make anything out of it," she said.

"I've had it translated," Mousse continued. "It describes the Bracelets of Friendship, or at least that is one name for them. They are a pair of bracelets with several magical powers. One of those powers is the ability to transfer a curse, any curse, from one person to another person who is willing to make the sacrifice of taking the other's curse. It was the one thing I ever found that has confirmation of not only existing but also working on Jusenkyo curses. I searched for many years trying to find them and as I said I finally found this one in the US."

"Don't you need both?" Nabiki asked as she set aside the scroll.

"No, the power to transfer can be performed with just one," Mousse explained before looking to Shampoo. "Shampoo, I'm the one responsible for your curse so I'll transfer it to me."

Shampoo blinked, still in shock. "You no can be sure it work," she said in uncertainty.

"Like I said, I did a lot of research and confirmed everything. I wouldn't have come here if I wasn't sure. It will definitely work, and this is definitely a genuine bracelet," Mousse replied.

"Shampoo need think about this," she replied, suddenly turning away.

"What's to think about? There's no risk to you," Mousse said in confusion.

"Yes, but you would then have curse," Shampoo responded.

Mousse shook his head in dismissal of this. "I don't mind. I'm the one that got you cursed in the first place. I should be the one with the curse, not you."

"Shampoo need think about it," Shampoo reiterated and walked out of the room.

"But..." Mousse said as she left. He hesitated a moment, looking around the room to see uncertain looks from the others. Finally he decided to head after her.

XXXXX

Back at the theater, Ranma was taking her own break to think. In the bathroom, she splashed some cold water on her face and looked at herself in the mirror before groaning.

'I don't think I can take much more of this,' she thought before sighing. "Only an hour more," she said to herself before heading out the door. "Only an hour more," she repeated just before running into Kuno.

"Fair one, I was becoming worried," Kuno said, causing Ranma to hang her shoulders.

"I'm fine Kuno, just-" she started to say with an annoyed shake of her head before spotting Ryoga coming out of the theater.

"Nono, it's no trouble really, Ak-" Ryoga was saying to someone behind him before Ranma raced into action. Quickly she dashed forward, covered Ryoga's mouth while simultaneously barring the door. Her action was just in time as a thud against the door could be heard.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Ryoga said after batting away Ranma's hand.

Said question was quickly answered as Kuno suddenly interposed himself between Ryoga and Ranma, looking at Ryoga in challenge. "I will allow not such a vulgar tone to be used in the presence of my date!" Kuno declared dangerously, before growing curious and examining Ryoga more closely. "Wait, haven't we met before?"

Ryoga frowned. "Actually, I was-" he started to respond.

"Nonono, you've never seen him before. He's new in town," Rnama quickly said before looking to Ryoga. "Right?" she stressed.

The door thudded again but Ranma managed to keep it closed.

Ryoga considered, but finally clued in. "Ah, yeah, right, just came in yesterday."

"No, I could swear that we have faced each other before," Kuno said with a growing frown.

"Probably someone else. Come on, why don't you buy me a drink. I'm really thirsty. Parched actually!" Ranma said, and quickly dragged Kuno down the hall to the concession stand.

Behind them, Akane smashed into the door a third time, but with no resistance now, tumbled into the hall to be fortunately was caught by Ryoga. Thinking on his feet, Ryoga quickly turned her so she was facing away from the direction Kuno and Ranma had gone.

"What's going on?" Akane asked in a mix of concern and annoyance.

"Ohh, nothing important. Door got stuck, that's all," Ryoga quickly replied.

"Oh, let's get those drinks then," Akane said and started to turn, but Ryoga stopped her.

"Ahhh, actually, I'll wait," Ryoga said.

Akane frowned. "Well, you can wait, I can't. Come on," she said and once more turned. This time Ryoga let her, seeing no other options. Desperately he moved to shield her view from Ranma and Kuno who had arrived and were just being served.

Up ahead, Ranma peeked over her shoulder to see the approaching pair, Ryoga giving her a desperate look. She quickly looked away to at least hide her face. 'THINK MAN! THINK!' Ranma mental yelled.

Ryoga and Akane reached the counter just as Kuno was finishing pulling his money out. Side by side, and with only the limited blocking of Ryoga, Ranma knew it was inevitable that Kuno would take notice if she did nothing. Just as a clerk came to ask Akane for her order, Ranma knocked the money from Kuno's hand and to the floor.

"Clumsy me," Ranma said in a whisper.

Kuno waved this off and together they leaned down to retrieve the money. "Not a problem," he replied in a whisper before asking, "By the way, why are we whispering?"

"No reason," Ranma replied, still in whisper.

"I'll-" Akane started to say, but fortunately Ryoga cut in.

"We'll have two medium Cokes please," the lost boy said loudly, before giving Akane a brief nervous smile.

"Coming right up," the clerk replied.

As Ryoga and Akane waited, Kuno finished the recovery of the money and was standing up. Ranma tensed, and in a lightning quick undetectable motion knocked the money from Akane's hand and to the ground.

Akane looked down in surprise, sighed and leaned over to retrieve it, barely going unnoticed by Kuno as he stood and finished his payment. As soon as such was finished and before Akane had recovered her own money, Ranma snagged Kuno by the arm and urgently began dragging him back to the theater.

"Why the haste my love?" Kuno asked.

"Don't want to miss too much of the movie," Ranma answer with a nervous laugh. 'Much more of this and I'm going to have a nervous breakdown!'

The pair entered the theater just as Akane finished and looked back their way curiously. "That almost sounded like..." she started to say, looking to Ryoga who merely smiled. With a shake of her head, she said, "Nah, just my imagination."

XXXXX

Sometime later, Shampoo was found standing in the doorway of the dojo, looking out at the night sky in contemplation. Mousse walked into her field of vision and looked at her questioningly. Reluctantly, Shampoo looked back at him.

"**I hope your ****Mandarin**** hasn't gotten rusty.**"

"**It's just fine,**" Shampoo replied, turning slightly into the dojo to shift her perspective.

"**That's good, then I can ask you why you are so reluctant to let me do this for you?**" Mousse asked. "**You don't actually like this curse, do you?**"

Shampoo frowned. "**No, I've grown used to it but I definitely don't like it.**"

"**Then why?**"

Shampoo huffed. "**T****here**** are**** several reasons.**"

"**Like?**" Mousse pressed.

On the spot, Shampoo scrambled. "**Well...****Can you use this bracelet more than once?**"

Mousse frowned slightly, and answered, "**S****ort of, once every 50 years as I understand it****, at least the curse transfer magic that is.**"

"**T****hen, who's to say there isn't someone else out there who needs it more****,**" Shampoo analyzed.

"**By that argument no one would ever use it****,**" Mousse pointed out.

Shampoo looked away. "**Well, I know someone right now who could use it more. He is cursed to change to a girl. If a woman took his curse then neither would-**"

Mousse shook his head. "**That won't work. The person taking the curse must make a sacrifice in taking the curse. A woman would be unaffected by taking a curse to change to a woman so there is no sacrifice.**"

Shampoo turned fully away from Mousse and walked into the dojo. Mousse followed behind her. "**There's other reasons too****,**" Shampoo said.

"**And they are?**" Mousse pressed once more. Shampoo struggled for a response which was all the answer Mousse needed. "**You're really worried about me, aren't you?**" he asked, but got no response. His hopes rose at this. "**Oh, I knew it! You really do care for me!**"

"**Mousse, it's not what you think****,**" Shampoo tried to caution, but he continued on.

"**Even after all this time apart, you still-**" he started to say with a beaming smile but Shampoo cut him off.

"**MOUSSE!**" she nearly yelled, causing him to fall silent. Finally, she turned back to face him. "**I don't love you, damn it! Haven't you got it through that thick skull of yours that I never loved you and I never will!**" she said forcefully.

"**But-**" Mousse tried to say.

"**No! I dealt with your stupid obsession with me when we were kids but I'm not about to let you just start this up again! I have a life now!**" Shampoo continued on.

Mousse was struck by the words and grew anxious. "**What do you mean?**"

Shampoo considered, but finally answered, "**I'm engaged.**"

The words sent Mousse into shock and anger. Reflexively he said, "**Who? How? I'll****-**"

"**Mousse!**" Shampoo said sternly, but he continued on.

"**I'll show you that I'm the stronger man! I can beat him, who ever he is!**" Mousse declared confidently but was shaken out of his anger by Shampoo suddenly raising her hand. A blow did not come, however, as she instead pointed at him in warning.

"**If you so much as touch a hair on his head I'll personally hand you your heart!**" Shampoo said coldly.

Mousse withdrew. "**But Shampoo-**"

Shampoo shook her head. "**No! I mean it! I'm not going to let you do anything to him!**" she said. "**Even if you did beat him, I wouldn't care anyway. I've long since abandoned those ways.**"

"**But-**"

"**There is nothing you can say or do to change my mind Mousse****,**" Shampoo said. Mousse fell back a full step, nearly losing his balance as he did so, his head swimming. Despite this, Shampoo continued on. "**You never understood that all I wanted from you was to be my friend. I didn't have many at the time, if any. It wasn't anything more.**"

Finally, Mousse collapsed to the dojo floor, totally stunned beyond words. Shampoo's expression broke as she looked at him in concern but she held her position.

After a minute of silence, Mousse came back to reality. "**I prefer being hit****,**" he said sadly.

"**I'm sorry****,**" Shampoo said, bowing her head slightly.

"**I... I... All that time, I hoped that this would make you forgive me****.**"

Shampoo shook her head. "**I forgave you a long time ago, Mousse.**"

Mousse looked up in uncertainty. "**You did? Why? Didn't I ruin your life?**"

"**You're sounding like Akane,**" Shampoo said with a sad shake of her head. "**No one thing caused what happened, and my life isn't ruined. It may have seemed that way, but here I am. I'm not going to keep blaming you for something that happened when we were kids that you didn't even intend.**"

Mousse looked at Shampoo for a moment before nodding in acceptance. "**I guess I shouldn't have expected much more than that****,**" he said before getting back to his feet. "**I'll still do it, if you want.**"

Shampoo turned away, but shook her head. "**No, like I said, I'm used to it. I don't want to mess up your life.**"

Mousse opened his mouth to argue, but stopped and nodded before turning to leave.

"**Mousse, if you need a place to stay...**" Shampoo said suddenly, turning back to him.

He paused, considering. "**Maybe, for a while.**"

Shampoo walked past him and gestured for him to follow. "**C****ome on. Follow me.**" Hesitantly, Mousse did as bidden.

XXXXX

Ranma was feeling totally drained by the end of the movie. Nothing further had actually happened, but worrying about it was enough. After delaying Kuno sufficiently to see Ryoga and Akane had left, the final obstacle seemed to be out of the way. Nearing ten o'clock, Ryoga and Akane would be heading home, and Ranma could finally ditch Kuno and try to forget this night ever happened.

Her mind already looking ahead to whatever situation would greet her when she finally reached home, Ranma was little paying attention as she and Kuno exited the theater.

"Ah, a most entertaining experience," Kuno said.

"Uhhuh," Ranma absently agreed, although she had paid little heed to the movie.

"My love, you seem downhearted," Kuno noted, looking briefly her way.

Ranma cringed and quickly perked up. "Nonono, I had a great time!" she lied.

"Of course, you were in the company of the great Tatewaki Kuno," Kuno said proudly as he returned his attention ahead.

"Uhhuh, great," Ranma said, once more returning to her exhausted look.

Unfortunately, fate was not with Ranma this night. Suddenly Kuno tensed next to her, causing her to look up. He was wide eyed and beginning to shake while looking off into the crowd. Ranma followed his gaze, already fearing the worst and had said fears confirmed as she spotted Ryoga and Akane. The two were taking a leisurely pace, arm in arm.

'Oh no!' Ranma moaned inwardly.

"The fiend!" Kuno fumed. "I shall smite him!"

"Say, Kuno, I could really use a drink," Ranma said in a desperate attempt to distract him, but it was useless.

The kendoist produced a bokken from seemingly no where and started to stalk forward. "This foul knave shall curse the day he crossed paths with the Blue Thunder!"

Ranma quickly followed him. 'Not now! Not now! He'll ruin everything! Got to distract him! But how?' Ranma thought looking around. 'If I knock him out I'll cause a commotion and Akane will see me,' she thought before an idea hit her. 'No. No! I don't want to! There got to be some other way!' she thought desperately, calculating her possibilities as Kuno neared his target. 'Damn! It's the only way! Oh man!'

Kuno raised his blade to strike but Ranma suddenly jumped in the way, ringing her arms around Kuno's neck, and exercising profound control of her revulsion, kissed him full on the lips. Kuno quickly slackened and calmed, giving into the kiss. As the seconds ticked by, a few people passed, looking on curiously, but Akane and Ryoga walked off without noticing.

Finally, figuring enough time had passed, Ranma maneuvered her hand around Kuno's neck, then clamped down sharply causing Kuno to go limp and fall to the ground unconscious. Ranma stood, panting angrily before giving in and showing her complete disgust, spitting in all directions and wiping off her lips.

"Yuck! Gross! Ewwwww! AHHHH!" she exclaimed as she did everything she could to rid herself of anything remaining from the contact. However, this was enough to gather some attention from the crowd. She quickly shifted to an innocent smile. "He must of fainted," she assured them, and with various murmurs and shrugs the people continued on their way.

Looking once more down at Kuno, Ranma considered just leaving him, but had a different idea. 'If I take him home, and toss him in his bed, maybe he'll think it was all a dream... It is all I can hope.' Sighing, she grabbed one of Kuno's loose arms and began dragging him away.

XXXXX

A short time later, Shampoo sat outside the front door of the Tendo home, her chin resting in her hands, a look of sadness on her face. She watched the gate for several minutes until it finally opened. The first to return was Kasumi, waving presumably at Dr. Tofu outside in the street. She giggled at something, then turned inside.

"Why hello Shampoo. How did it go with Mousse?" Kasumi asked as she closed the gate behind her and approached.

Shampoo looked sadly up at Kasumi for a second then resumed looking at the gate. "Shampoo feel like step on his heart."

Kasumi paused at this, before replying. "I'm sure everything will be just fine soon enough," she assured Shampoo.

"Hope so," Shampoo replied simply.

A new set of voices outside caught both girls' interest. A few seconds later, Akane opened the gate, followed immediately by Ryoga, the former laughing.

"I see you had a nice evening, Akane," Kasumi said in greeting.

"Yeah," Akane agreed as she approached before turning to Ryoga. "Thanks Ryoga."

"Ah, my pleasure," he responded with a blush. "You really had a nice time?"

Akane nodded. "Yes, I did. Maybe we should do this more often," she suggested.

"Really?!" Ryoga said excitedly.

"Sure," Akane said with a smile before looking back to see Shampoo. Shampoo forced a smile onto her face. Akane frowned in concern, not fooled. "What's wrong Shampoo? Did something happen with Mousse?"

Shampoo considered for a second, but shook her head. "Nothing serious," she said but sighed. "Shampoo tell you later."

Akane nodded. "Alright. Come on, Ryoga, we better get inside or my Dad may have a panic attack."

Akane and Ryoga walked into the house. Shampoo watched them go then resumed watching the gate. Kasumi remained a moment longer, giving Shampoo a reassuring pat on the shoulder before following the others inside.

After another few minutes Ranma, restored to his male form, finally arrived at the gate, face hidden in his hand. Shampoo got up and she met him at the gate.

"Is you okay?" she asked in concern before noticing a strong odor in the air. "What that smell?"

Ranma uncovered his face and looked at Shampoo. "Mouth wash. Lots of mouth wash," he answered to Shampoo's confusion. "You don't want to know. Trust me. You don't want to know." Pausing a second to dismiss his own troubles, he then asked, "Did the date go okay?"

"Yes," Shampoo responded, looking back at the house. "Akane seem... much happier."

"That's good. And that Mousse guy didn't cause any trouble, did he?" Ranma asked.

Shampoo turned back, but with her eyes to the ground. "No."

"I take it things didn't go that well," Ranma observed, and Shampoo shook her head sadly. "I know this guy got you cursed-"

"Is not that," Shampoo interjected. "That... accident. He no bad person, just..."

"Has he changed somehow?" Ranma asked in puzzlement.

"Wish had," Shampoo tried to explain, but noticed Ranma's even more confusion expression. "He once... friend of sort, but he think we more than friends."

Ranma frowned. "Oh, I take it he didn't like hearing about the engagement," he concluded.

"No," Shampoo replied. "Shampoo feel terrible."

"I know that feeling all too well," he replied with a weak smile. After a second though, he added, "But I know something that just might cure it." Shampoo looked up at Ranma curiously. "You said something about continuing from where we left off..." Before Shampoo could process this statement, Ranma grabbed Shampoo by the shoulders and drew her in close.

Initially surprised, Shampoo finally clued in and ringed her arms around his neck, smiled and leaned in as Ranma did likewise. The two were soon in a kiss that continued on for sometime.

Unnoticed by either, hidden on the roof and in darkness, Mousse watched the pair. He tensed in anger, but looked away and slowly calmed. Not looking back, he silently headed off, hanging his head in sadness. 'If that's really what makes you happy Shampoo, I... I won't get in the way,' he thought as he departed.

A minute or so later, Shampoo and Ranma finally broke for breath, both continuing to smile. 'Yes, much better,' Ranma thought as Shampoo rested her head against Ranma's chest and they walked into the house together.

%End Chapter 9


	11. Chapter 10

%Chapter 10

Perfume lay in bed, murmuring in displeasure as consciousness demanded her attention. Finally, opening her eyes, she looked around her room at the Nekohanten in consideration before deciding it was time to awaken.

In a well practiced ritual, she stretched each muscle carefully, and gave her entire body an examination. Finding no issues she stood up and pulled a small pill bottle from her hair where it was hidden. She looked inside and frowned. 'Have to make some more,' she thought before removing one pill and swallowing it. Returning to the bottle to its place of hiding, she left her room and headed downstairs. It was her day off and she had lots of plans.

In the kitchen she poured herself a drink and as she sipped away at it she headed into the dining area. As she approached a familiar scent caught her attention. 'Smells like...' she thought, entering the room and stopped when she spotted Mousse sitting at one of the tables, looking glum. "Mousse?"

Mousse turned to look at Perfume and frowned. "Perfume," he greeted simply.

She regarded him cautiously for a moment before deciding he was no immediate threat. "When you get here?" she asked, taking a seat across from him.

"Last night. You were asleep," Mousse replied.

"What you do here?" Perfume asked suspiciously.

"It's not important," Mousse answered.

Perfume examined him more closely, but found him unreadable. "You no try to interfere with Shampoo marriage to Ranma do you?"

"What would you care?" Mousse asked in irritation.

"I care because if Shampoo no marry Ranma, I must," she replied.

Mousse let out a sad amused laugh. "So he beat you did he. You were actually stupid enough to get into a fight with a guy?!"

"You be quiet. I now better warrior than before!" Perfume shot back.

"Oh really?! So you don't-" he began to ask in amusement before finding Perfume's ax at his throat.

"You no say a word about that! If people find out-" Perfume threatened.

Undeterred by his current situation, Mousse asked in surprise, "They don't know?"

"No, and you no tell them or I-" Perfume continued on in threat before suddenly finding her ax wrapped in a chain coming from Mousse's sleeve and pulled from her grasp.

Mousse narrowed his eyes and glared across at Perfume. "Or you'll what? I haven't been idle all these years you know."

Momentarily surprised by this, Perfume quickly recovered, but switched to a different tack. Suddenly Mousse found Perfume in a pleading posture before him. "Please Mousse, no tell them. I like it here."

Mousse sighed in annoyance, throwing Perfume's ax back to her. "Oh, alright. I won't say a thing, but you won't be able to keep it a secret long."

At that moment, the door to the Nekohanten opened and Soon Li came in. "Hello," she greeted with a smile, stopping at their table. "Hope you two are getting along." Perfume quickly withdrew her ax as Mousse did likewise with his chain. "That's good. Perfume, do you mind giving me a hand in the kitchen to start up?"

"Okay," Perfume said and followed Soon Li.

Left behind, Mousse returned to his original glum expression, losing himself in his thoughts. It was odd. He had played out many scenarios for his meeting with Shampoo. In most he had concluded she would never forgive him, and if he did survive the encounter, she would dismiss him without ever wishing to see him again. Although it was harsh, Mousse had accepted that this may be the result. However that did not happen, but neither did his chief alternative. The only option he had really considered was one where Shampoo would forgive him after being cured and then he could press on with their relationship. Never had he considered that she would forgive but reject the cure, and he certainly had not anticipated her being engaged.

Soon Li returned to the dining area a few minutes into these thoughts to clean tables for the opening. "So, Mousse, what are your plans?"

"Haven't really given that much thought. Maybe I'll go back to the village," he answered.

Still in the kitchen, Perfume called out, "No think you want do that."

"And why not?" Mousse asked in slight irritation.

"Trust me, village has turned to living hell!" Perfume replied.

Mousse thought on this for a second, considering just what exactly she meant. "Then maybe I won't go back," he said after a moment.

"You can stay here as long as you want, Mousse," Soon Li offered.

Mousse shook his head. "I don't think so. Sticking around here isn't something I want to do."

"Why no find nice woman to marry?" Perfume asked from the kitchen.

Mousse let out a weak laugh at this. "Like maybe you?" he asked sarcastically, but the Amazon took it quite differently.

Storming out of the kitchen, she angrily declared, "NO WAY! I no want be married to half blind twit like you!"

In response, a dagger flew threw the air and embedded itself in the door just next to her head, startling her. "Half blind am I?!" Mousse replied angrily. "Be glad I wasn't aiming to hit!"

"Perfume, Mousse, that's enough!" Soon Li ordered in a dangerous tone. It was enough to cause Perfume to retreat to the kitchen, while Mousse mumbled an apology. After giving the boy another moment to calm, Soon Li said, "I was actually meaning to ask you about that, your eyes I mean."

"Corrective eye surgery. I got it in the US," Mousse answered.

"Ah, that's good," Soon Li said.

"You mean you see normal now?" Perfume asked from the kitchen.

"Perfectly," Mousse replied.

Perfume returned to the dining area. "Then, should have no trouble beat new wife."

"I thought you said I shouldn't go back to the village," Mousse pointed out.

"Well, ahh, yes, but..." Perfume scrambled to correct herself.

"What?! Are you worried I'm going to challenge you or something?" Mousse asked with a teasing smile.

"No!" Perfume denied. "I no afraid of you! And I warn you now, if you do I will no let you live to challenge again!"

This cause Mousse to break into laughter. "Oh yeah, I'm shaking now," he said mockingly through his laughter. "Or, maybe you're afraid I'll start talking about something else..." he hinted.

Perfume tensed then growled in frustration. "I done setup in kitchen. I go now," she said, and without waiting for an okay left the restaurant.

"Where are you going Perfume?" Soon Li called after her.

"I no listen to this jerk! Besides, I have things to do," she called back.

Soon Li sighed, and turned to glare at Mousse. "Mousse, you shouldn't tease her like that."

"Oh please, as if I'd ever want to be married to that little..." Mousse started to say but stopped himself.

"Little what?" Soon Li asked with a frown.

Mousse shook his head. "Never mind. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go take a walk myself."

Soon Li watched the boy leave, and sighed. "I suppose it is fortunate he doesn't plan to stay. At the rate those two are going we'll be down a restaurant in a few days," she joked, before shaking her head and returning to work.

XXXXX

A ways from the restaurant, Perfume walked through a local market, mumbling to herself angrily. "**Stupid... Hmmm. I was actually starting to like it here until he came. Mmm,**" she said before tensing. "**I need to hurt something, now!**"

As she said this, an idea came to her and she searched through her shirt. Inside she found the piece of note paper with an address that Nabiki had given her a few days earlier. She looked over the address and smiled. "It been couple of days. Hmm," she said, her smile turning wicked as she set off.

XXXXX

Across Tokyo, one Ukyo Kuonji was walking down the street, returning from a morning errand. While most everyone knew Ukyo as the young man who recently rented a small apartment and enjoyed making Okonomiyaki, this young man was far from normal. What made this most apparent was the bandoleer of small spatulas hung across his chest, with a much larger spatula on his back. These weren't simply tools of the trade either. They were weapons.

Ukyo had good reason to be armed: he was on the hunt. 'Tokyo is a big place. Where am I going to start?' he wondered. It had taken years, but he had finally found a clue. A classmate from his old school had encountered his target some years before in his previous school, in Tokyo. Unfortunately, this lead was years old, and his target long since moved on, but he was sure he was close. 'He'll slip up and sooner or later, I'll be there,' Ukyo thought confidently.

As Ukyo contemplated this, a mailbox on the street suddenly leaped out. "Ukyo!" it yelled, causing Ukyo to jump back and grab the giant spatula off his back to wield as a weapon.

"Tsubasa! Get lost!" Ukyo ordered on recognition.

A girl's head with long brown hair popped out of the mailbox. "Oh, dear dear Ukyo, why have you been avoiding me?"

"Tsubasa, I am not going to go out with you, got it?!" Ukyo said angrily.

"But Ukyo, if you'd just-" Tsubasa tried to say, but was cut short as Mikado suddenly came out of the air and crashed down on top of her.

Ukyo was naturally quite startled by this and looked on in confusion as Mikado, looked up and behind in fear before running down the street. Just as suddenly as Mikado's appearance, Perfume came leaping in, but this time crashing down on Ukyo, heedless.

"MIKADO, YOU DIE!" she yelled as she began to give chase.

While Tsubasa was out cold, Ukyo had endured his impact better and was struggling to get to his feet. "Why you little..." Ukyo fumed.

Neither Perfume nor Mikado were paying any attention to this. Both were far too involved with the other, Perfume swinging her ax, forcing Mikado to duck. The ax embedded itself into the street wall, just above his head, causing him to pale. As Perfume struggled to free it from the stone, Mikado collected himself and continued his retreat.

"YOU... AHHH... COME BACK HERE!" Perfume called after him angrily as she continued to pull at her weapon. "AHHHH... FACE DEATH LIKE WOMAN!" Perfume finally freed her ax and started to charge on Mikado. His panic at seeing this was such that he stumbled giving his pursuer the opportunity to close into attack range.

At that moment, still fuming over being used as a human door mat, Ukyo took a small spatula from his bandoleer and threw it at Perfume. The spatula hit Perfume's hand just as she seemed to be about to chop Mikado in two. Perfume yelped out pain at the hit, dropping her weapon and collapsing to the ground, holding her hand. Mikado did not waste the opportunity, and quickly recovered and ran for his life, turning down another road and out of sight.

Ukyo finally reached his feet after a second more, grabbing his giant spatula which had been lost in the impact. However, as he did so, he paused at hearing wailing from down the street from Perfume. 'What the hell, I didn't hit her that hard,' Ukyo thought looking over to see the girl in tears, desperately shielding her hand which had been hit. The sight was enough to make his previous anger abate, and with a frown of skepticism, anger, but a little concern too, headed over.

"You all right?" Ukyo asked as he approached.

Perfume managed to look up at Ukyo, tears still streaming down her face, looking to be in agony. "Why you... It hurt!" she managed to say before doubling over, trying to sooth the pain of her hand.

Ukyo was taken aback by this. He had seen more than few people embellish before, but this was beyond anything he had ever encountered. Still, skepticism was firmly in place. "Here, let me see," Ukyo said, and after a second of Perfume resisting managed to get a look at the hand. "Oh, it's just a scratch," Ukyo said in dismissal. As scratches go it was a deep one, but hardly worth all the fuss, Ukyo initially concluded, but Perfume quickly pulled her hand away to once more shield it, and even fell over, still crying.

"IT HURT!" the Amazon continue to cry out.

Ukyo looked the girl over in puzzlement. 'I don't get it, but I think she is really in serious pain,' Ukyo thought and sighed. "Alright, come on," Ukyo said, helping Perfume back to her feet and down the street, all the while the tears did not stop.

Neither paid any heed to the still unconscious Tsubasa laying in the street.

XXXXX

A short time later Ukyo was finishing wrapping a bandage around Perfume's hand in a small apartment room. Perfume was reduced to sniffles by this point, but her eyes were still red.

Finished, Ukyo looked at his own hand in wonderment. On the tips of his fingers were the remnants of a cream Perfume had managed to pull out. It appeared to be innocent enough stuff, which seemed to help the girl recover once applied to the wound. Now Ukyo knew why, as his own hand was completely numb, all the way up to his forearm. "This is strong stuff," he commented.

"Need be," she said quietly.

"A little sensitive to pain are you?" Ukyo asked, but Perfume only murmured in response. "Well, if you hadn't of stepped on me-"

"I no mean to. I chase Mikado, no notice you," Perfume replied sharply, before looking off to the side sadly.

Ukyo frowned, not sure what to make of this girl. "What he do to make you so mad at him?"

"He have 998 other girl friends," Perfume replied bitterly.

"Ahhh, I see," Ukyo said as he completed the bandage. "How's that?" he asked, Perfume withdrawing her hand, but contenting herself with merely rubbing it.

After a few seconds, the Amazon replied quietly, "Thank you. Much better."

Ukyo thought for a second, but then smiled to comfort the girl before getting up and heading into the kitchen. "Hey, do you want something to eat?" he asked from within.

Perfume looked over and answered, "Ah, okay." As she did so, she could not help but smile a little herself.

After a few minutes Ukyo returned with two plates of okonomiyaki, one of which he handed to Perfume. "Here you go."

Perfume took the plate with a gracious smile, and took a moment to eye the dish curiously before eating. Ukyo sat down across from her, watching her guest for a second enjoy the meal before starting into his own.

"Is very good," Perfume said with a smile.

"I hope so, okonomiyaki is my specialty. I'm planning on opening a restaurant soon. I got the money. All I need is a location," Ukyo said.

Perfume thought on this for a second before saying, "I know many good place for sale near where live."

"Hmh? You're not from Japan, are you?" Ukyo asked.

Perfume shook her head. "No, I from Amazon village in China but do live in Tokyo now," she explained.

"China huh. Wait... Amazon... like in the Greek myths?" Ukyo asked to when Perfume shook her head.

"No, is what outsiders call us. Suppose name does come from myth, but Chinese Amazon only part like Greek Amazon," Perfume explained. "We just use name because everyone use it."

"But, you are female warriors, right?" Ukyo asked to which Perfume nodded. "Must be hell being so sensitive to hits." Perfume self-consciously looked down at the floor. "So, what's the deal with that, anyway?"

"My family all... sensitive, not pain but other things. Some strong eyes, other strong ears. Mother have strong sense of touch. I have all those things... and more," she explained.

"Ah, so you feel pain a lot stronger than everyone else," Ukyo concluded to which Perfume sadly nodded.

After a second, the Amazon looked up at Ukyo in despair. "No one ever understand me. Think just cry cause weak. They tease all the time," she said, looking pained by the memories.

Ukyo nodded, his own childhood memories starting to surface. "That's rough."

"I usually able no get hit with special technique but only work when fight one person at time. Even then, sometimes they cheat," Perfume said bitterly.

Ukyo gave Perfume a comforting smile. "Yeah, well, everybody has their soft spots. Some are just more noticeable than others."

Perfume returned the smile, feeling a little happier.

"So, what brings you to Japan? This Mikado guy?"

"No, I chase girl here, chase Mikado later," Perfume explained.

"A girl?"

"Well, Ranma not really girl. Actually boy with curse. Long story," Perfume said with a sigh.

Ukyo absently nodded, before registering the name. "Did you say Ranma?"

"Yes," Perfume answered causing Ukyo to tense.

"Ranma Saotome by chance?"

Perfume blinked and nodded. "Yes, Ranma Saotome."

Perfume suddenly found Ukyo right in front of her, looking very anxious. "Do you know where I can find him?"

"Yes," Perfume answered in confusion.

"Can you take me there?"

"Yes," Perfume answered once more and found Ukyo already pulling her to her feet.

"Come on then, let's go!" Ukyo directed and the pair were soon off.

XXXXX

Inside the Tendo dojo, Shampoo was facing off with Ranma. Each was examining the other, looking for any threat or opening.

"How long has it been already?" Ranma asked tiredly as the stand off continued.

Shampoo merely smiled. "Soon Li say if fight never begin is best victory."

"I'm not about to give up," Ranma declared.

"Shampoo still have lots of patience," Shampoo countered.

'This is getting a bit much,' Ranma thought, but realized that Shampoo had far too much practice at this to wait her out. She was of course waiting for Ranma to commit to the attack so that she could shape her attack the best. While it was a small advantage, it was one both wanted. 'Screw it!' Ranma finally declared and rushed in.

Shampoo side stepped the rush and let a kick fly into Ranma's abdomen. Ranma flipped over the kick and bounced off the wall. Shampoo in turn leaped over him as he attempted a flying kick then pushed off the roof and came down on him with a kick of her own. Ranma twisted in mid-air and avoided the blow and grabbed a hold of Shampoo's legs. He rolled to the ground, taking Shampoo down with him and quickly moved to pin her down. Before he reached her hands she stabbed her fingers into his shoulder and an arc of electricity flowed into him. To Shampoo's surprise Ranma was unaffected and pinned her arms to the ground.

"Got you. Gonna give up?" Ranma said with a smile as held Shampoo below him.

Shampoo returned the smile. "You no win yet," she said, and suddenly brought her legs up and between them. Before Ranma could adjust, she delivered a lightning quick series of kicks to him, blasting him into the air and allowing her to flip back to her feet. Ranma crashed to the ground, wincing, his lungs refusing to take in air for several seconds.

"You learn to harness electricity," Shampoo noted, impressed.

"Yeah," Ranma said before letting out a cough. "Nearly had you."

"Yes but need be more careful," Shampoo cautioned.

Ranma smiled. "Yeah. But I do have one trick left. Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts final attack!" he gave as a battle cry and leaped at Shampoo. Shampoo was startled by the unusual manner of attack and stunned just enough to allow Ranma to tackle her by the legs. She fell backwards but managed to blunt her impact.

Ranma was not finished though. Continuing his usual approach he pulled out a feather and in a flash removed Shampoo's shoe. "Feather Foot Tickle Torture!" Ranma announced his attack.

'What?!' Shampoo thought in total shock at the absurdity of the attack. Before she could really muster together a defense of any kind, Ranma began running the feather across Shampoo's unprotected foot. The effect was immediate as Shampoo was forced to hold back a laugh.

"That... no... fair!" Shampoo declared through clenched teeth as Ranma continued his assault, but finally it overwhelmed her and she began laughing.

"Surrender and I'll stop," Ranma said with a teasing smile.

"No way!" Shampoo replied through her continued laughter.

"Ookay, but you brought this on yourself," Ranma caution and intensified his attack.

After another thirty seconds, Shampoo was nearly crying she was laughing so hard, and was forced to hold her chest from the strain.

"Come on, Shampoo, give up," Ranma prompted once more, but Shampoo only continued her laughter. "You're very stubborn, you know that," he said letting up for an instant to see if she would surrender.

Unexpectedly, Shampoo went suddenly limp, her head slumping to the side, and her laughter ceasing. This was enough to give Ranma pause. 'What kind of trick is this,' Ranma thought, and continued his tickling attack. However, this time there was no response, not even after nearly a minute.

By this point, Ranma's caution was changing to concern. He maneuvered himself to look at her face, and gently shook her in concern. "Hey, Shampoo, stop fooling. I'm not buying it," he said but still got no response. "Shampoo?" He asked, now openly displaying his concern.

Just as suddenly as this started, Shampoo wrapped her arms around Ranma and pulled him into a kiss. This time it was his turn to be shocked, but he soon gave in, and returned the kiss. Finally, after about a minute, Ranma and Shampoo pulled slowly away from each other.

"Shampoo could have knocked out," Shampoo noted, but smiled and added, "but Shampoo let you win, this time." After a moment more of thought, Shampoo smiled more suggestively. "You know, we do have house to selves..."

"And what exactly were you planning?" Ranma asked.

"Well-" Shampoo started but was interrupted.

"Nihao! Anyone here?" Perfume called out from outside

Shampoo sighed in disappointment. "This conspiracy!"

Ranma chuckled. "Soon enough, I promise."

The two got to their feet and Ranma called out to Perfume, "We're in here."

As Shampoo put her shoe back on, Perfume arrived at the entrance of the dojo. "Ranma, Perfume have someone who want speak to you."

Ranma looked over at Perfume in surprise. "Hmh, who?" he asked.

In response, Ukyo stepped into view and looked at Ranma angrily. "Hello, Ranma," she said in a dangerous tone.

Ranma seemed to miss this, however, and instead was too busy examining Ukyo in vague recognition. 'Kinda looks like...' Ranma thought before asking, "Ukyo?"

Ukyo's calmed just a little at hearing his name. "Well, at least you remember me."

Ranma smiled and quickly ran over to Ukyo. "So it is you, Okonomiyaki Ucchan! I haven't seen you in years! This is great! How you doing?"

"How am I..." Ukyo repeated in shock before once more growing angry. "How am I doing? How am I doing?! You have a lot of nerve asking me that!"

Ranma was taken aback by this. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Ukyo responded by drawing his giant spatula and thrusting it towards Ranma.

"What's wrong?! You bastard! Don't mock all the suffering you put me through!" Ukyo replied in outrage before taking a swing at Ranma. Ranma, still in shock, managed to jump over the attack, but Ukyo pressed on, sweeping his feet as he landed. However, before she could press his advantage, Shampoo interceded.

"Out of the way or you're going to get hurt!" Ukyo warned, but Shampoo shook her head.

"If want hurt Ranma will have to fight Shampoo first!" Shampoo declared.

Behind Shampoo, Ranma got to his feet. "No, Shampoo, I don't know what this is all about, but this is my problem. Stay out of this."

"But-" Shampoo said over her shoulder.

"No, I don't want you hurt. I'll handle this," Ranma said, prompting Shampoo to reluctantly move out of the way, joining Perfume at the side. "I really don't want to fight you, Ukyo," Ranma said.

"Shut up you jackass! I am going to get my revenge for what you did to me!" Ukyo yelled and charged, slashing down with his weapon.

Now prepared, Ranma easily dodged the attack. "What did I ever do to you?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo spun around, pulling several of his small spatulas out. "Don't act so naive!" He yelled and sent the spatulas flying at Ranma.

Ranma frowned, and plucked the spatulas effortlessly out of the air before throwing them harmlessly to the ground. The display caused Ukyo some shock, but he quickly grew angry once more.

"Look, I really don't know what you're talking about. Why won't you talk to me?" Ranma asked.

"My life has been destroyed because of you!" Ukyo shot back.

"How'd I do that?" Ranma complained in annoyance.

"Oh, shut up and fight!" Ukyo yelled back and once more rushed Ranma. As with his previous charge, Ranma easily dodged the attacks and flipped over and behind Ukyo.

"Alright, I didn't want to do this but you forced me," Ranma said. Ukyo turned, attempting another series of attacks, but in a flash of motion, he found his giant spatula, plus all the ones on his bandoleer gone. Before this could fully register, Ranma, now in possession of the giant spatula, used it to sweep Ukyo's legs, sending him to the floor. Ranma quickly pressed forward, leveling the spatula at Ukyo's throat in threat. "Look, I don't know what you think I did to you but if you keep this up you're going to get hurt."

Ukyo momentarily grew fearful, but quickly restored his control and simply glared at Ranma. "Go ahead and finish me then because I'm not going to rest until you've paid for what you did!" he said.

At that moment, Genma appeared at the entrance of the dojo behind Shampoo and Perfume. "Hey, what's all the commotion?" he asked.

Without looking from his opponent, Ranma asked, "Pop, do you know anything about this? Ukyo won't talk to-"

Genma grew suddenly nervous. "Ukyo? Uh, I got to go." Just as suddenly as he appeared, Genma ran off. Every one's attention shifted at this, Ranma scowling in anger.

"Why that..." Ranma muttering, fuming before rushing after his father, tossing aside the giant spatula. "POP! GET BACK HERE!"

Perfume, who had been watching the whole confrontation in confusion and tension, now rushed to Ukyo's side in concern. She helped him to his feet, asking, "Is you okay?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied absently, noting Shampoo eying him.

"You no fight Ranma no more, okay? He too strong for Ukyo to beat," Perfume cautioned, but Ukyo walked off after Ranma without responding, picking up his weapon along the way.

Shampoo watched him go then turned to Perfume angrily. "**Why did you bring him here?**"

Perfume cringed. "**I'm sorry, I'd didn't know Ukyo would react that way. I just thought Ukyo was an old friend of Ranma's or something.**"

Shampoo continued to frown but calmed. "**Alright, I better go see what's going on.**"

"**Okay,**" Perfume replied, watching as Shampoo headed off before moving to pick up Ukyo's scattered weapons.

XXXXX

In the house, Ukyo followed the sounds of commotion upstairs and in the second floor hallway. Just as he entered, he caught Ranma's voice from the nearest room.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Ranma yelled in outrage. Suddenly, Genma flew through the door and crashed into the opposite wall. Ranma leaped out after him, and grabbed his father by the collar.

"Ah, come now son, it was a different time," Genma pleaded.

"Don't hand me that! How could you steal the cart?! What kind of a father are you?!" Ranma asked in outrage.

"I didn't steal it," Genma replied.

"And how do you figure that?" Ranma asked skeptically.

"It was my compensation for taking Ukyo off his hands," Genma answered much to Ranma's confusion.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo grew angry once again, but this time directed it at Genma. "You never even told him?!"

"Well-" Genma started to say before Ranma cut in.

"Told me what?"

Genma sighed in defeat just as Shampoo arrived behind Ukyo. "Ranma, met your... betrothed."

This quite naturally gave Shampoo and particularly Ranma serious pause, while Ukyo looked away. After a second, Ranma finally recovered. "WHAT?! Pop, this better be some kind of sick fantasy! How could you engage me off to another guy?!" he asked in outrage.

"I'm not a man," Ukyo said quietly.

Ranma was about to continue his interrogation of his cowering father but stopped and looked to Ukyo. "What?"

Ukyo refocused on Ranma and repeated, "I said I'm not a man."

Ranma and Shampoo looked at Ukyo in shock. "You're... you're joking right?" Ranma asked, causing Ukyo to frown.

"Why would I joke about something like that?!" Ukyo snapped back before suddenly finding her chest being examined from behind by Shampoo. "Hey!"

Ignoring Ukyo's complaint, and still uncertain, Shampoo circled around to Ukyo's front and pulled apart her shirt revealing some cloth straps wrapped over her breasts, holding them secure while also concealing them. Quickly Ukyo resealed her shirt and frowned at Shampoo in annoyance.

"Do you mind?" Ukyo complained, blushing and looking away.

"Is true," Shampoo noted, looking back at Ranma for his response.

Ranma was stunned speechless for several seconds before finally asking, "You... you were always a girl?"

"Well, what do you think, you jackass? Of course I've always been a girl," Ukyo retorted, looking back at Ranma in annoyance.

Ranma once more was in stunned silence for a moment, before reasserting his anger at his father. "You engaged me off to her then left her by the side of the street?!" Ranma asked angrily.

"It was your choice to leave her," Genma argued.

"What?!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, I can just imagine that choice: Hey Ranma, would you like to marry this Ukyo guy or run off with his cart? What kind of choice is that?! He didn't even know I was a girl!" Ukyo yelled, glaring at Genma.

"Now Ukyo-" Genma tried to say, but Ukyo marched forward and grabbed Genma, lifting him to the ceiling, Ranma releasing him as she did so.

"Don't now Ukyo me you... you... jerk!" Ukyo exclaimed and threw Genma down the hall, then once more readied her weapon. However, before she could move onto the attack, Ranma interceded.

"Ucchan don't!" Ranma said.

"Out of the way, Ranchan. I'm going to ring his neck!" Ukyo said in anger.

"No, he's my dad, I'll clobber him," Ranma said in a light tone that made Ukyo hesitate. After a second more, she relented, replacing her giant spatula on her back and turned to leave. Ranma moved to follow her. "Ucchan wait!"

Ukyo stopped and looked back. "What?" she asked, seeming drained.

Ranma hesitated, but finally asked, "Is this... this guy thing because-"

Ukyo looked away but answered, "Do you realize how humiliating it is to have your fiance run off with your father's cart? I was turned into the laughing stock of the whole neighborhood! This was the only way for me to escape that humiliation."

Ranma cringed and hung his head. "I'm really sorry, Ucchan."

"Sorry?!" Ukyo repeated in disgust. "I've been ruined for marriage because of that! Who'd ever want to marry a girl who's lived most her life as a guy?!" Ukyo continued on her way with Ranma following, while Shampoo moved to check on Genma.

At the front door, Ranma caught up to Ukyo. "Aren't you overreacting? I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of guys that would find you cute."

Ukyo stopped at hearing this and nervously started fidgeting and hid her face. "I'm not cute," she replied.

"Of course you are," Ranma said with more confidence.

"No I'm not," Ukyo reiterated, but was now blushing.

"Ukyo, I'm a guy and I say you're cute," Ranma insisted.

"Really?" she asked in uncertainty.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah," he replied.

Ukyo hesitated, before bowing her head and turning to Ranma. "I should be going. I've caused enough trouble for today."

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo thought for a second but shook her head. "No Ranchan, you're off the hook," she replied before opening the door. Unexpectedly, Perfume stood just outside waiting, carrying an arm full of spatulas. Perfume smiled at see Ukyo and offered over the small weapons. "Oh, thanks Perfume."

"Is no problem," Perfume said.

"Uh... Maybe I'll see you around, Ranchan," Ukyo said and quickly exited and headed towards the gate. Perfume followed while Ranma decided it best to leave it at that.

Shampoo arrived at the door at this point, asking, "She is no angry now?"

"I don't think so," Ranma replied before sighing in annoyance. "I've come to the conclusion that my father is out to ruin me. Bad enough he got me engaged to that Kaori girl, now this!"

Shampoo smiled, remembering the incident some weeks prior. Fortunately said incident had been quickly resolved with a challenge that was easily won. This time, things seemed a bit less clean cut.

"Need any help?" Shampoo asked after a moment.

"No, I can kill him myself," Ranma said, cracking his knuckles and heading back upstairs.

Shampoo looked back outside to see Ukyo and Perfume leave the outer gate, closing it behind them. Sighing, she closed the front door and headed upstairs herself.

Out on the street, Ukyo walked on with Perfume following for nearly a minute, her head bowed in thought.

"Is good that you no fight Ranma," Perfume commented finally to break the silence.

"Yeah," Ukyo agreed before a thought hit her. "You said you knew some good locations right?"

"Yes," Perfume responded.

"Near here?"

Perfume grew a little excited at this. "Oh yes, very near."

"Great," Ukyo said with a slight smile. "Why don't you show me a few?"

"Would love to!" Perfume said with a wide smile.

XXXXX

Some days later, the trio of Ranma, Shampoo, and Akane were on their way to school.

"You two going to visit Mr. Saotome after school?" Akane asked as they neared their destination.

Ranma frowned and huffed. "No, that creep can rot in the hospital for what he did."

"Was it really necessary to turn him into a human pretzel?" Akane asked.

"Yes," Ranma answered.

Akane shrugged. "Okay." With the school now in view, Akane asked, "Who's turn is it to distract Kuno?"

Shampoo sighed. "Shampoo's," she said and was already moving ahead.

"Good luck," Akane said and Shampoo smiled and nodded before rushing ahead. "You know, I still don't get why you're so mad at Kuno lately? What he do?" Akane asked.

Ranma frowned angrily and shook his head in response. "You don't want to go there, Akane."

Akane gave her own frown, but shrugged and dropped the issue. "See you in class," she said as they reached the front door, Ranma remaining behind to wait for Shampoo.

"Yeah," Ranma replied, and Akane headed on in. He turned to look off to side as other students continued to tickle into the school before the bell. 'Sooner or later I'll have to deal with him again,' Ranma thought with a sigh before suddenly having his eyes covered over from behind. Before Ranma could act though, a familiar voice was heard.

"Guess who," Ukyo said.

Ranma spun around in surprise to find Ukyo smiling at him, dressed this time in a male school uniform. "Ukyo?!"

"Yes sir," Ukyo replied, beaming.

"What are you doing here?"

"I transferred. Have to be close to my fiance after all," she answered to Ranma's confusion.

"Fiance?!"

"Of course, Ranchan. I even managed to swing getting us in the same class," Ukyo explained.

Still rather perplexed, Ranma asked, "Same class?"

"Yeah. Speaking of which I guess I better be off. You coming, Ranchan?" She asked.

Finally Ranma put the pieces together and had a sudden sinking feeling. "Ahh, I got to met someone," he replied carefully.

"Alright, seeya," Ukyo said, waving and heading on into the school, still smiling.

As she left sight, Ranma let himself display his shock and dismay. 'Oh man...' he thought just as another voice spoke to him from behind.

"Something wrong, Ranma?" Shampoo asked.

Once more Ranma spun, startled. "Ahh, no, nothing's wrong. Better get to class," he nervously replied and quickly headed inside.

Shampoo watched him leave in confusion, as they normally went in together. Frowning in thought, he followed.

XXXXX

In class, Ranma confirmed the worst as Ukyo was already within. They exchanged smiles before Ranma took his seat. Shampoo, on the other hand, took Ukyo's appearance as quite the shock, but said nothing, simply taking her seat near Akane.

"**You know him?**" Akane asked.

"**Her, and yes,**" Shampoo replied to Akane's confusion before realizing.

"**That's Ukyo?**" Akane asked and gained a confirming nod. "**What's she doing here?**" Shampoo could only shake her head.

After Ukyo's introduction to the class, the rest of the morning went quickly. However, the interaction between Ukyo and Ranma was causing Shampoo serious concern. Every time the two looked at each other, there was smiles exchanged. Beyond that, Ukyo was giving Ranma the bulk of her attention. This was all enough to cause Shampoo to fume silently.

Finally class broke for lunch, and Ranma quickly departed. Ukyo soon followed after him, giving Shampoo even further cause to grind her teeth.

"**You don't actually think he'd cheat on you, do you?**" Akane asked.

Shampoo thought for a moment, but calmed and shook her head. "**No, but...**"

"**I'm sure it just some sort of misunderstanding. Go talk to him, see what's up,**" Akane suggested and with a nod Shampoo headed off.

XXXXX

Out in the school yard Ranma had found a nice lonely tree near the soccer field and sat down to think. 'Oh, this is just great!' he thought sarcastically. 'What am I going to tell Ukyo? What am I going to tell Shampoo? I never meant to get Ukyo interested in me. Why does this always happen to me?!'

At that moment, Ukyo found him and rushed up. "Ranchan, I've been looking all over for you," she said as she knelt down next to him.

Ranma smiled nervously in greeting. "Ah, Ukyo... we need to talk."

"Isn't this great, Ranchan?!" Ukyo asked looking around the school.

"Uh, Ukyo-"

"Oooh shoot!" Ukyo said suddenly. "I was so excited this morning... I forgot my lunch! I guess I'll have to get something here. Hey, why don't you come over to my restaurant later. We can talk there," she suggested as she stood up.

"Restaurant?!"

"Yeah, I opened one near here. It's a couple blocks down from the Nekohanten, you know, where Perfume works. If you can't find it just ask Perfume. Seeya after lunch," Ukyo said and headed off.

Ranma sadly watched Ukyo rush back off to the school. A second later Shampoo suddenly sat down in front of him, a scowl on her face.

"Shampoo!" Ranma said, startled.

"You better have good explanation," she said darkly.

Ranma hesitated, laughed nervously, then quickly said, "Shampoo, it's not what you think. She was depressed. I mean, she was an old friend and all and I was just trying to cheer her up. She just got the wrong impression."

Shampoo softened, but continued to scowl. "Wrong impression? What you tell her?"

"Well... uh... I might have said... something... about her... being cute," Ranma reluctantly explained. Before Shampoo could react to this, he quickly added, "she was all down about being... you know... acting like a guy and all, and I was just trying... you know... to..."

Shampoo sighed and waved off further explanation. "Shampoo get it. You should no lead her on. Why no tell her now?"

"I was planning to, but she took off," Ranma said but Shampoo's scowl intensified. "Don't worry, I'll tell her. She invited me over to her restaurant later. I'll tell her then."

Shampoo once more softened. "Okay, you want Shampoo come?"

"No, I think it would be better if I told her alone. She might not take it well and you being there might just make it worse," Ranma responded, to which Shampoo reluctantly had to agree.

Shampoo got up. "You be careful, no want kill Ukyo cause husband get hurt," she cautioned.

"I'll keep that in mind."

XXXXX

After school, Ranma had delayed some, but finally found himself coming to the directed place. He looked up at the shop curtain. "Ucchan's Okonomiyaki," he read aloud. Sighing, he walked in.

The restaurant itself was a smaller one than the Nekohanten, mostly seats right off the grill which was situated right in the main room to one side. Ukyo was behind said grill, cleaning. She quickly took notice of Ranma and smiled.

"Ranchan, hope you didn't get lost," she said.

"No," he replied.

"Here, let me make you something. Take a seat," she prompted, turning on the grill.

"Uh, sure," Ranma said and walked over and took a seat opposite Ukyo at the grill.

Ukyo soon was cooking up some okonomiyaki and before long flipped the freshly cooked dish onto and plate and presented it to Ranma. After giving it a look for a moment, Ranma reluctantly smiled and started eating and Ukyo watched him with a smile.

"Not bad, Ukyo," Ranma said as he finished.

"I've devoted my whole life to okonomiyaki. I'm going to be the best in the world," she declared confidently.

"I'm sure you will," Ranma said and took a few seconds to gather his courage. 'I could just... no, this will be another repeat of Akane if I leave it... no choice,' he thought. "Ahh, Ukyo, there's something I got to tell you."

"What is it, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked innocently.

Ranma considered then said, "Maybe you better sit down."

Ukyo's good mood quickly shifted to worried at hearing this but she remained where she was. "What's wrong?"

"Ukyo, I'm... I'm engaged," Ranma said after a moment.

Ukyo stared at Ranma for a moment in silence. Finally she turned, grabbed up a cloth and started polishing the bench, looking only at her work. "Oh," she said finally.

Ranma sunk his head at this. "Ukyo, I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea."

"Wrong idea? Hmmh. So, who is she?" She replied.

"Shampoo," Ranma replied. "She was there when you first came over, remember?"

"Shampoo huh. Guess I should have realized. Do you..."

"Love her?" Ranma finished Ukyo's question, hesitated, but answered, "Yes."

Ukyo stopped her cleaning but kept her eyes locked on the grill.

"Ukyo?" Ranma asked in concern.

"I'm fine," Ukyo said. After a second, she shook her head, stood up straight, eyes closed and head bowed. "Tha... Thanks for telling me this Ran...ma. At least I didn't make too much of a fool out of myself," she said, pain creeping into her voice.

"You never did that, Ukyo," Ranma quickly said.

Ukyo did not initially reply, taking a moment. Finally she said, "I think I'd like to be alone."

"Uh, Ukyo-" Ranma tried to say, but Ukyo cut him off.

"Please Ranma, just go," she said in a strained voice.

"Okay. If you need anything..." he responded.

Ukyo nodded but turned away. Ranma reluctantly got up and after giving Ukyo a sad look left the restaurant. Ukyo walked over to a seat by one of the few tables, sat then rubbed her eyes. She pulled her hand away and looked down at it, noticing it to be moist with tears.

"Stupid... How could I be so stupid?!" she asked herself bitterly. After another second, she let her head crash down into her arms on the table and started to cry. Several minutes passed until the door to the restaurant opened and Perfume came in carrying a bag, a worried look on her face.

"Ukyo?" Perfume asked in concern.

Ukyo quickly sat up and rubbed away her tears with her sleeve, and reassembled her appearance. "Oh, hi Perfume."

"You sad?" Perfume asked as she came over and sat down.

"No, no I'm fine," Ukyo denied.

"No be embarrassed. It okay cry, I cry all time," she said with a comforting smile.

"Hmm," is all Ukyo could manage to respond with, letting a bit of her feeling show.

"Ukyo need cheer up," Perfume said, put the bag on the table and removed a round container. Removing the top, she revealed steaming meat buns within. Perfume pushed the container over to Ukyo. "Here, I make these for you. You like."

Ukyo looked at the buns, a bit confused, but also a little comforted. "Ahh, thanks."

"I have go. No cry no more, okay," Perfume said and got up, Ukyo giving her a weak smile and nod. However, after turning to leave, she stopped and quickly turned back. Rounding the table she came up next to a confused Ukyo, leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Before Ukyo could respond, she whispered in Ukyo's ear, "Wo ai ni."

Shocked, Ukyo could only look at Perfume. Perfume smiled back and quickly left. "Uhoh," Ukyo said after she left.

XXXXX

The next day Ranma, Akane and Shampoo were once again on their way to school. Ukyo sat on the wall waiting nervously.

"What she want?" Shampoo asked with a slight frown.

"I don't know," Ranma answered honestly just as Ukyo jumped down at seeing them.

Ukyo quickly rushed over to them. "Ranma, I need to speak to you. I need your help," she said with unexpected urgency.

"What's the problem?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo looked nervously at Akane and Shampoo then thought for a second. "You guys know Perfume, right? I might need your help too," she said before refocusing on Ranma. "I have a problem with Perfume."

"Perfume? What did she do now?" Akane said tiredly.

"You know how Perfume has been helping me, well..." Ukyo started.

"Well?" Ranma prompted.

"I... I think she... I think she... likes me," Ukyo said finally.

"Yeah, we all know that-" Akane replied dismissively.

"No! I mean she REALLY likes me!" Ukyo said tensely.

Ranma, Shampoo and Akane looked at Ukyo in shock. "Doesn't she know-" Ranma started to ask.

"No, I didn't get around to telling her. I never thought I'd need to," Ukyo said holding her forehead and starting to pace before pausing. "At least I hope she doesn't!"

"Why, that happen before?" Shampoo asked with a grin.

"No! What, do you think, I'm some sort of pervert?! I'm not that type of girl!" Ukyo replied angrily.

"No, then why wear boys' clothes?" Shampoo asked, to which Ukyo growled.

Ranma quickly intervened. "Shampoo, please..." he pleaded.

Shampoo looked at her fiance then sighed. "Alright, Shampoo is sorry," she said reluctantly.

Ukyo's anger abated, but only to be replaced once more with her nervousness. "Look, I need your help. What am I going to do?"

"How'd this happen?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo shook her head. "I don't know. I was so distracted with you that I didn't even notice until yesterday. She's been helping me a lot... helped me find the location for the restaurant and setup..."

"What happened yesterday?" Ranma asked curiously.

Ukyo thought on this and blushed, but quickly shook her head. "That's not important."

"Hmm, well, you'll just have to tell her," Ranma said.

Before Ukyo could respond, Shampoo did. "Wait, did you beat Perfume in fight?"

"No," Ukyo initially impulsively responded before pausing. "Wait, maybe... I sort of did, wasn't a real fight though."

"May no matter," Shampoo replied, looking to Akane.

"That must be why she got interested. That complicates things. You can't tell Perfume now. By Amazon law she'd have to kill you."

"Kill me?! What do you mean?" Ukyo asked in confusion and worry.

"By Amazon law if an outsider male beats an Amazon, she must marry him. If an outsider female beats her, she must kill her," Akane explained to Ukyo's growing shock.

"Please tell me that's a joke..." Ukyo said, but was met with only silence. "Oh no! What am I going to do?"

"Now, don't panic. I mean, Perfume isn't exactly into those Amazon laws anyway. She'd... probably understand, right?"

"Possibly," Akane replied, but added, "but do you really want to trust Ukyo's life to probably and possibly?"

"No," Ranma admitted after a moment. "And no telling how she'd take it anyway. She'll probably be pissed."

As Ukyo cringed, the others went into thought. Finally, Shampoo brightened with an idea. "Shampoo have idea. Must get Perfume interested in other man."

"Who?" Akane asked in uncertainty. "We're not exactly rolling in strong male martial artists around here. I hope you're not thinking Kuno... I wouldn't wish him on anybody," Akane said with joking smile.

"Nooo," Shampoo said. "Maybe Mousse?"

"Do you think Perfume would like this Mousse guy?" Ukyo asked.

"No see why not. Mousse is strong man, can be much loving too. Perfume even say as much. Best yet, he already live with Perfume at Nekohanten," Shampoo replied.

"Not for long, Soon Li said he planned to leave soon," Akane pointed out.

"Where's he going?" Ranma asked.

"Soon Li didn't say," Akane answered.

Ranma thought for a moment. "Hey Ukyo, do you think you could use a worker for that restaurant of yours?"

"Hmmm?" Ukyo responded in confusion.

XXXXX

At the Nekohanten later that day, Perfume was serving the various customers merrily, while Soon Li was in the kitchen cooking. Mousse sadly watched from one of the tables where he sat alone, although his thoughts were not with Perfume. Akane entered, looked briefly at Perfume then walked over to Mousse and sat down across from him.

Mousse looked over at his visitor, and grew immediately suspicious as she smiled at him. "What do you want, Akane Tendo?"

"Oh, nothing really. I heard you were leaving soon," Akane replied.

"Yes, I can't stay here. It's just too... painful," Mousse admitted, hanging his head.

"Mousse, you shouldn't let this eat away at you. I had to get over Ranma. It was hard, yes, but I had to do it. You have to get over Shampoo," Akane said sympathetically.

Mousse looked up at Akane sadly. "My mind may agree with you but my heart does not."

"Maybe you should try someone else," Akane offered.

"I've already heard that suggestion. Who would you see me with?" Mousse said with a tired smile.

In response, Akane looked over at Perfume who was still merrily serving customers.

"You're joking!" Mousse said in shock. "Perfume just isn't me."

"And why not?" Akane asked.

Mousse hesitated. "Let's just say me and her just don't get along. We never did."

"You could give it a chance," Akane argued.

Mousse let himself consider briefly, looking at Perfume, then shook his head. "I don't think so," he said.

"Look, Mousse, just give it some thought," Akane said.

"Akane, I can't stay here," Mousse replied.

"Okay, not here, but how about nearby. I know a friend who looking for some help with their restaurant. He can offer you a room and some pay," Akane suggested, causing Mousse to consider. "You wouldn't see Shampoo much there," she added quickly.

"I could use the money, I exhausted most my funds searching for her and the bracelet," he admitted. "Hmm, alright, but I highly doubt that me and Perfume will get anywhere."

"You never know," Akane said optimistically.

XXXXX

The next day, Mousse walked into the crowded Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. Ukyo was working behind the grill serving the various customers. Mousse moved over to a seat by the grill.

"What can I get you, Sugar?" Ukyo asked as Mousse sat down.

"Ah, whatever. Actually I was sent by Akane," Mousse replied.

"Oh, you must be Mousse. So, you're interested in the job?" Ukyo asked hopefully.

After a second, Mousse nodded.

"Great! Might as well start now. It's been busier than even I expected," Ukyou said and pointed to the tables. "Would you mind cleaning those tables there?"

"Sure," Mousse said with a nod. Ukyo handed Mousse a cloth and he proceeded to his work.

Hours passed busily in the restaurant, Mousse concentrating on his work. Gradually the customers thinned out until at last the restaurant was empty except for Ukyo and Mousse.

"This place does get real busy," Mousse commented.

"People know good food," Ukyo replied as she went about clean up.

Mousse nodded in agreement. Just then the door opened and Perfume came in, smiling.

"Nihao!" she greeted.

Ukyo forced a smile on her face. "Hello Perfume."

Perfume looked at Ukyo happily then spotted Mousse and frowned. "What you do here?"

"I work here now. What are you doing here?" Mousse asked suspiciously.

Perfume grew unexpectedly nervous. "I..." she started to say, but then grew angry. "None your business!"

Mousse frowned and huffed, returning to his work. Ukyo nervously watched the confrontation and shook her head.

'This isn't going to work,' Ukyo thought.

"Must you always interfere with me?" Perfume asked in irritation.

"Go about your business. I don't care," Mousse answered.

Perfume glared at Mousse a moment longer then turned her nose up at him and headed over to Ukyo. Ignoring Mousse, Perfume sat at the grill and looked at Ukyo dreamily.

"So, ah, Perfume, what can I do for you?" Ukyo asked nervously.

"I just come visit Ukyo. Ukyo better today?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," Ukyo answered.

Suddenly the call of, "Ukyo!" broke the mood. A vending machine crashed through the door. Instinctively, a giant spatula, a spiked ball on a chain, and a large battle ax all simultaneously smashed into it, crushing it into the floor.

"What this?!" Perfume asked as she pulled back her weapon.

"TSUBASA!" Ukyo angrily declared as said individual slowly came out of the disguise and rose unsteadily.

"Ow, that hurt!" Tsubasa moaned in pain.

"What are you doing here?!" Ukyo asked in annoyance.

"Oh dear, dear Ukyo, will you go out with me?" Tsubasa asked after recovering.

"How many times do I have to tell you-" Ukyo started to say, but suddenly Perfume intervened.

"Who you? You no date Ukyo!" Perfume said, putting her ax threateningly to Tsubasa's throat.

Ukyo used her giant spatula to pull back Perfume's ax. "There's no need for that," she said calmly.

Apparently unfazed by the threat, Tsubasa moved up to Perfume until they were face to face. Perfume started looking nervous under Tsubasa's gaze. "You seem awfully interested in my Ukyo, why is that?" Tsubasa asked.

Perfume initially hesitated but then grew determined and answered, "He be my husband."

Any doubt Ukyo might have been desperately entertaining was crushed at this point, causing her to shake her head in despair.

Tsubasa took this quiet differently. "What?! You?! Do you really think a butt ugly girl like you can make Ukyo happy?" Tsubasa said in challenge.

"I no butt ugly!" Perfume yelled in outrage.

"Are too!" Tsubasa countered.

Perfume fumed then managed to overpower Ukyo and swing her ax at Tsubasa. Tsubasa ducked, just barely dodging the weapon's edge. "You pay!" Perfume yelled and continued her attack, forcing Tsubasa to retreat to the street. Ukyo started to give chase but got stopped by Mousse at the door.

"Don't bother," he said.

"But she might-" Ukyo said, but Mousse shook his head.

"No, Perfume can be nasty, but she's not out for blood right now. She's just trying to scare him," he explained.

"You sure?" Ukyo asked.

"Trust me," Mousse assured her, to which Ukyo finally nodded in acceptance. "I see she's taken a liking to you."

Ukyo hesitated but said, "Yeah."

"You do know she's going to freak when she finds out you're a girl," Mousse said.

Ukyo looked at Mousse in surprise. "What?! You know! But how?"

"Hey, I've been living in the US, and that place is full of weirdos. I've learned to look for the little things that give away a person for what they really are. Actually, it was pretty easy spotting you. That Tsubasa guy was a little tougher but still..." Mousse explained.

Ukyo frowned in irritation. "Are you calling me a weirdo?"

"You have to admit dressing as a boy is a bit odd. Don't get me wrong, I've seen a lot more bizarre things in my time. I didn't mean to insult you," Mousse replied, calming her. "May I ask why you do it?"

"It has to do with Ranma," Ukyo said, thinking for a moment. "About ten years ago we were engaged but he and his father ran off without me. I was so humiliated that I decided to live the rest of my life as a man."

"The more I hear of this Ranma the less I like him," Mousse said with a frown.

"Nono, that's not it. He didn't know I was a girl. He thought I was a boy. He never understood about the engagement," Ukyo explained. "I blamed him too for a long time but I know now that it wasn't his fault. His father is the one that allowed the engagement."

"Hmh. What is it that women see in him? You're the fourth woman I've heard that... took a liking to him," Mousse asked, his hands tightening into fists.

"Fourth?" Ukyo asked in surprise.

Mousse nodded. "Shampoo of course, Akane, some girl named Kodachi, and you."

Ukyo hung her head sadly. "I don't really know."

"You still like him?"

"Yes," Ukyo admitted.

"But how could you after all those years of hating him?" Mousse asked in puzzlement.

"I... I don't know. I guess I never really, really stopped. I just buried the feeling under my hatred for him. When I found out he wasn't responsible and he was so nice to me despite what I did I just..." Ukyo explained and suddenly covered her eyes. She turned to the grill, headed back, and after probing for a seat, sat down.

Mousse followed her back, sitting down next to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

Ukyo uncovered her eyes which were slightly wet with tears. "No, no, it's just so... hard to accept that he... he..."

"Loves someone else?" Mousse concluded for her, to which Ukyo nodded. "I get the same feeling when I think about Shampoo."

"Shampoo?" Ukyo asked in surprise.

"I've been in love with her since the first time I saw her, I guess that's over 13 years now," Mousse said.

"Unlucky 13 huh," Ukyo weakly joked.

"Never thought about it but I guess so," Mousse said with a slight laugh. "I should have realized that she wasn't just waiting for me all the those years we were apart. Just a friend, I guess that was all I ever was to her. Hmh, a very annoying friend in retrospect."

Ukyo nodded, thinking to herself. They sat in silence for a minute.

"I take it I am being fixed up with Perfume in an attempt to get her off your back," Mousse said.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry," Ukyo admitted.

Mousse shrugged. "Nah, it's a thought, but I'm afraid it's just not too likely." He paused in thought before continuing. "Tell you what, I'll give some help with her anyway. We don't get along, but... I'd hate to see her end up feeling like us."

"Thanks," Ukyo said with a bit of a smile.

"Yeah, sure. There's no guarantees. Maybe something will happen, maybe not."

"Hmh, well I guess that all I can ask. Come on, let's get this door fixed," Ukyo prompted and the two set to repairing the damage.

%End Chapter 10

Near the end of the first part of the story now. Now, I have some pretty serious fixes for the next chapter as reviewing it showed it had major problems. At this point my ideas to correct such have gotten to the point that I may in fact be adding a whole new chapter designed to setup what was originally the next chapter. We'll see how things turn out when I start actually writing it. It might be entirely new, or only partly new, but it will probably be a bit.

For those not in the know, who is Kaori? Kaori is an anime only character that replaced Shampoo in the ramen delivery race from the manga (in case you aren't aware, I always use anime as my basis, only on rare occasion borrowing something that is manga exclusive). She was another of Ranma's fiancees but quickly put out of the running by losing said race. In this story, she would have appeared sometime before Ranma made his decision. Unfortunately for her, she is TOTALLY outmatched in this universe, and she likely would have been dealing with both Akane and Shampoo making things even harder on her. As such there is no point in even talking about her story beyond what I have. All that really needs to be said is that she lost badly this time round.


	12. Chapter 11

%Chapter 11

By most appearances, it was a normal day in a small town in mainland China. Of course, as things tend to be, such was not the case.

"**Be my briiide!**"

"**AH!**" A woman screamed as she ran from a giant white cat standing well over six feet tall with a large bell hung from its neck.

"**Wait!**" the cat called out to her, but she continued to run in panic. Downhearted, the cat hung his head and turned away. "**Nyah, Why do they all run?**" he asked openly as he sadly walked away. However, his walk was soon interrupted.

A small ball bounced into the street in front of him. Seeing this, his eyes suddenly lit up and he rushed over to play with it. However, no sooner did he start doing so than it exploded. "**Ahh!**" the cat cried out before his body involuntarily dematerialized and was pulled within the bell that was at his neck. "**Hey, nyah, what happened?**" he desperately asked as the bell rocked back on forth on the ground as if he was struggling from within.

"**Don't bother, ghost,**" a young man in a cloak said as he approached. "**The powder in that ball was especially charmed to dissolve your ghost form, leaving only your anchor.**"

"**Who are you?**" the ghost trapped in the bell asked.

**"Just a guy sent to do a little ghost busting,**" he said with a smile as he picked up the bell. "**Seems you've been bothering the locals enough for them to call in a professional.**"

"**I wasn't bothering anyone, nyah,**" the cat denied.

"**Right. I'm on a job, cat. I don't give a darn about how you see it,**" he said and started walking away with the bell in hand.

"**Wait, nyah, what are you going to do with me?**" the cat asked nervously.

"**There are a number of options. I could destroy this bell of yours-**"

"**Don't do that!**" the cat pleaded from within.

"**Or I can put a seal on it-**"

"**Nono, not that, pleeeease!"**

"**Or I can just dump you in the ocean... I know this group of necromancers, they're always interested in a new test subject...**" the man continued to taunt.

"**You're mean!**"

"**That's what they say,**" the man replied. "**It's your own fault. Why are you pestering human girls anyway? Like any of them are going to marry a ghost cat.**"

"**But I need to find my briiide,**" the cat whimpered. "**Oh, if only I could find Shampoo again...**"

Suddenly the man stopped and pulled the bell up to eye level revealing his eyes covered by a pair of dark sunglasses. "**Shampoo?**"

"**You know her?**" the cat asked excitedly.

The man considered a moment. "**Am I to understand you want her for your bride?**"

"**Oh yes! She just purrfect!**" the cat replied.

Slowly, a disturbing smile formed on the man's face. "**You're in luck, cat. I just happen to know where you can find her.**"

"**You do?**" the cat asked anxiously.

"**Yeah,**" the man replied. "**I was thinking of paying her a visit myself, pretty soon, but in the meantime... let's talk.**"

XXXXX

Some days later, Shampoo was working on some homework in her room while Akane relaxed on her bed.

"**Did you have a nice time last night?**" Shampoo asked as she made her way through her algebra.

Akane, who was currently reading a novel, set it aside and nodded. "**Oh yeah. He's not so nervous anymore,**" she answered before giggling. "**Although he did eat the popcorn bucket.**"

Shampoo looked over skeptically. "**You're kidding!**"

Akane shook her head and smiled. "**Nope, but he's so funny that way,**" Akane replied before switching topics. "**Heard anything about Perfume?**"

Shampoo returned her attention to her homework. "**Not really. She's after some guy named Tsubasa from what I hear.**"

Akane sat up. "**Why? Does she like him?**"

Shampoo shook her head. "**Unfortunately, no. She's after him in quite a different sense,**" Shampoo said, and as Akane did not catch on, she made a chopping motion.

"**Oh,**" Akane said with a nod and cringed. "**What did he do?**"

"**He's constantly asking Ukyo on dates from the sounds of it,**" Shampoo answered.

"**And Perfume hasn't figured out that Ukyo's a girl?**" Akane asked in confusion.

"**No, Tsubasa dresses as a girl from what I hear. Pretty convincing one too.**"

Akane frowned for a second and shook her head. "**What's with all the weirdos around here?! Next we'll find out that Dad was trained by a panty thief!**" Akane joked causing Shampoo to laugh.

Before their laughter died down, they caught the sound of running feet coming up the hall. Suddenly the door was flung open, revealing a very flustered Perfume. Both girls turned to her in confusion, but she did not acknowledge them, instead rushing to Shampoo's bed, grabbing a blanket off of it, and quickly hiding underneath, disguising herself as the pillows.

Naturally this gave both girls pause before Akane finally asked, "**What are you doing, Perfume?**"

"**I'm not here! You never saw me!**" Perfume said from beneath the blanket.

Shampoo and Akane exchanged confused looks. However, before either could further their questioning, another sound could be heard approaching. This time it was a distinct single thump every second, steadily approaching. Akane looked at the door in puzzlement, while Shampoo tensed in recognition.

Finally, the sound came to an end at the door. "Come out here at once, child! I haven't time for these games!" Cologne's voice ordered.

Akane, who had yet to meet Cologne continued to puzzle over this but soon noticed Shampoo's tension.

"Cologne," Shampoo quietly said, giving Akane the necessary clue.

"What? Did you say-" Akane started to ask in surprise, but the door opened interrupting her. Akane returned her attention to the doorway to see the diminutive Amazon elder and Matriarch of the village balanced on top of a wooden staff.

The elder scanned the room's occupants, stopping on Shampoo. Shampoo was too stunned to respond, and simply looked back. Cologne frowned, but quickly diverted her attention to the bed. Hopping forward once, she came to the foot of the bed, dismounted her staff just briefly to stick the pointy end into the side of the disguised Perfume with a sharp thrust.

Perfume yelped in pain, jumping and clinging to the ceiling. "Owww! Go away! Why no can leave me alone?!" Perfume said in a whine.

"Because you have been negligent in your duties! Why have you not returned with that girl's head?" Cologne demanded.

"Is kind of long story," Perfume nervously replied.

"Then you had best be ready to tell it. Come, now!" Cologne ordered, causing Perfume to reluctantly drop down and follow Cologne as she left the room. As the young Amazon left, she cast Shampoo and Akane a brief pleading look.

"That was Cologne?" Akane finally asked to confirm, getting a mute nod from Shampoo.

"What was all the commotion about?" Ranma asked as he came up the hall to the open door.

Akane jumped to her feet. "Cologne is here. She must of come looking for Perfume," she answered.

Ranma blinked before recognizing the name. "Oh. Shampoo, you all right?" he asked.

Shampoo once more nodded. "Umm, Shampoo is fine."

Shampoo got up and walked to the door. She walked past Ranma and headed downstairs, Ranma and Akane following her. They arrived at the front door of the house just in time to see Cologne prodding along the miserable Perfume as the two exited the gate.

Akane thought for a moment before turning to Shampoo. "Why don't you try and talk to her? It's been nearly ten years. Surely she's still not mad at you."

Shampoo hung her head in uncertainty. "Shampoo no know."

"If you don't try you'll never know," Ranma pointed out, but Shampoo remained undecided. "Come on, you're a great martial artist. Maybe she's just waiting for you to talk to her."

Shampoo considered this for a minute then reluctantly nodded. "Will try."

XXXXX

Across town, in the kitchen of the Nekohanten, Soon Li was getting annoyed. "Where is that girl?" she wondered aloud of her waitress for the day, Perfume. Her answer came not a minute later when Perfume reluctantly entered the Nekohanten, her head held low in defeat.

"There you are," Soon Li said. "Where have you..." she started to ask just as Cologne hopped in the door. "Cologne!"

The elder turned to Soon Li who exited the kitchen. "Soon Li," she greeted simply.

"When did you get here?" Soon Li asked.

"Just today," Cologne answered. "I see you have made yourself quite at home here in Japan. I assume you have no plans on returning?"

"No, I did not," Soon Li said, not sure how to read the situation.

"That is your choice," the elder replied and turned once more to Perfume. "Now, Perfume, explain yourself."

"Well, it like this..." Perfume started nervously. "Ummm, I chase girl Ranma here to Japan but then... ahh... boy Ranma beat Perfume."

Cologne frowned. "There is a male Ranma?"

"He has a Jusenkyo curse to change to a female," Soon Li explained.

"I see," Cologne said.

Perfume took this as a prompt to continue. "But is not all story. Boy Ranma engaged to Shampoo now and Perfume no want marry anyway so was waiting for marriage to leave."

Cologne huffed. "There is no need for you to stay because of that. If you have no intention of marrying this Ranma then you should have returned to the village. You can officially step aside once you hear of their marriage."

Perfume swallowed nervously. "Is other reason too. Umm, Perfume have... have other man now," she said reluctantly.

Cologne frowned once again. "This man defeated you?" she asked harshly. Perfume hung her head and nodded. "Is he reluctant to agree to the marriage?" Cologne asked.

"I no... really ask him yet, but was going to soon," the young Amazon answered.

Once more Cologne huffed in annoyance. "Defeated not once but twice... Who is this man?"

Perfume cringed and reluctantly answered, "Ukyo Kuonji."

Cologne glared at her student for a moment, but finally sighed. "Very well, I will give you a short time to tell him of our law. If he refuses I will have to intervene."

Perfume nodded nervously in acknowledgment just as Shampoo, Akane and Ranma arrived. Cologne turned to them, frowning at seeing Shampoo. Seeing this caused Shampoo to hesitate, but Akane and Ranma gave her reassuring looks prompting her to press on.

Stepping forward, Shampoo said, "Shampoo would like speak with you."

Cologne scrutinized Shampoo for a long moment. Under the inspection, Shampoo started to grow nervous. Finally, though, Cologne turned away. "Come then. We will speak in private," she prompted and lead the way into the kitchen, Shampoo following.

Soon Li watched this all, considering. "I don't know if this is wise," she said.

"Why not?" Akane asked in concern.

Soon Li frowned. "I don't get the feeling from her that anything has changed," she explained, causing Ranma to scowl and Akane to look the way they left nervously.

XXXXX

Cologne opened the door to a spare bedroom, looked in briefly then entered. Shampoo followed her and closed the door behind her. Cologne turned on Shampoo and scrutinized her once again causing Shampoo to become even more nervous.

"I only entertain this discussion in light that I have respect for Soon Li, no other reason. Speak," Cologne commanded coldly.

Shampoo hesitated once again before nervously beginning, "Shampoo, ahh, umm... Shampoo just want ask..."

Cologne grew quickly annoyed. "Your Japanese is horrible! You'd think living with a Japanese family for so many years would have made you fluent in the language," she criticized.

"Shampoo no need use Japanese until come back Japan," Shampoo tried to explain.

"Excuses, excuses. Is that all you are capable of giving in your defense?" Cologne asked with a scowl. In response, Shampoo looked down at her feet in shame. "Well then, let's get to the heart of the matter. I assume you wish to beg forgiveness or some such thing. Well, don't waste your time."

"But... Shampoo has gotten better-" Shampoo started to argue.

"Better?!" Cologne replied mockingly. "You are a disgrace! You think because Soon Li has taught you a few trifles that you are a proper warrior? Your fighting skills are adequate at best, and look at yourself. Such an appearance is unfit any Amazon. To even appear openly in the village with... THAT would cause the greatest uproar since your loss to Lotion," Cologne said, gesturing to Shampoo's hair. "Beyond that, you still bear a curse."

By this point, Shampoo had lost most all her composure and could only manage to reply, "But... but... I..."

"Tell me, this engagement to this Ranma, did he defeat you?" Cologne asked harshly.

"No but-"

"No?!" Cologne echoed in disgust. "He is an outsider! You are engaged in an act that is openly against Amazon law! Have you no respect for our laws?!"

"But-" Shampoo tried to reply, already feeling an unwelcome sting in her eyes.

"I wish to hear no more! Remove yourself at once!" Cologne ordered, turning away.

Shampoo took in several shaky breaths but managed to keep some of her composure and left. She walked, head bowed, back to the dining area where Ranma, Soon Li, Akane, and Perfume were waiting anxiously. She looked up at them for a second then bowed her head again and walked quickly out of the restaurant. After a second of confusion, Ranma and Akane rushed after her, Perfume slumped her head onto the table, and Soon Li looked unamused.

"Perfume, could you mind the place for a while. I must speak with Cologne," Soon Li said in a controlled manner.

Looking up, Perfume nodded. "Okay," she said as Soon Li walked into the kitchen. After a second of hesitation Perfume also entered.

XXXXX

Shampoo finally came to a halt, breathing heavily, near the canal fence. She covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head just as Ranma and Akane caught up.

"What happened?" Akane asked in concern.

Shampoo looked at Akane, started to respond but then looked down at the ground and shook her head. Ranma took Shampoo by the shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Don't let her get to you. She's just being spiteful," Ranma said to which Akane nodded in agreement.

"Ranma's right. She has no idea what you're like now. She has no right to judge you," Akane said firmly.

Shampoo looked up at Ranma in sorrow then back down to the ground. "Shampoo just hope..." she started to say before pausing, her words already starting to choke. After a second, she shook her head with determination. "No! Shampoo no cry! What she know?! Adequate?! She no give Shampoo chance..." she said, growing angry as she spoke. "Shampoo no let... that old... HAG do this to her!" she finally declared, looking back up at Ranma and Akane with renewed spirit. "Shampoo be okay now," she assured them.

"You sure?" Ranma asked.

"Yes," Shampoo said with a nod.

Ranma looked back the way of the Nekohanten. "Now what?" he asked.

"You two go on home. I'm going back there," Akane said with a scowl as she turned back.

"No do that Akane. She will no listen," Shampoo said.

"I don't care!" Akane nearly yelled in outrage. "She can't do this to you! If she won't talk to me then I'll let my feeling be felt another way!"

"No let her get to you like get to Shampoo. She no worth it," Shampoo cautioned her.

Akane looked back with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Now, go on, I'll be fine."

Finally, Shampoo conceded with a nod and let Ranma lead her off home. Akane watched them go before marching back to the Nekohanten.

She arrived a few minutes later to find Perfume working in the kitchen, pausing to listen ever few seconds nervously. Akane walked up to her.

"Where's Soon Li?" Akane asked.

"She speak with Cologne. Much loud talk. No can hear them anymore, was getting worried," Perfume replied.

Akane frowned. "Well, I'm..." she started to say before hearing a door open and be loudly slammed closed. Soon Li appeared a moment later in the kitchen with a look of barely controlled rage on her face giving both girls a very uneasy feeling.

The older Amazon stopped and looked at Akane. "Akane, good. I... I need to go for a walk. I may not be back today. Mind the restaurant for me," she said, and quickly walked out of the kitchen and out of the restaurant. Seconds later thunder could be heard and a sudden downpour began.

"It has been a long time since I've seen her that angry," Akane commented.

"Was no sunny minute ago?" Perfume asked, looking to Akane in question.

Akane smiled and shrugged. "When she's this mad, it doesn't matter if it was sunny," Akane explained.

Once again a door opened within the restaurant and closed, more normally this time. Cologne hopped into the kitchen. "She will calm in time," Cologne said before glaring at the two girls. "Don't you two have work to do?"

Perfume nodded in fear and quickly returned to her cooking. Akane looked angrily at Cologne, walked over and confronted her.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here and doing that! I have a good mind to punch you through a wall!" Akane said angrily.

Cologne was unfazed however. "Is this your way of delivering a challenge Ms. Tendo?" she asked calmly.

Akane fumed for a few seconds but then relented and shook her head. "No."

"Good. You have some potential, I'd hate to see it wasted with your death. This is none of your affair. It is between myself and the one who calls herself Shampoo. Your interference, even opinion in this matter is unwanted and irrelevant," the elder responded before hopping by Akane.

Akane once more tensed. 'Why that...' she thought angrily, but taking a second regained her composure. 'Shampoo's right, she's not worth it.'

XXXXX

Many hours later, night had fallen while it continued to thunder and rain. Genma, Soun, Ryoga, Kasumi and even Nabiki were gathered in the common room speaking.

"I say we just tell her to take a hike!" Nabiki said, expressing what many of the others were feeling.

"I'm not sure that is appropriate," Kasumi said.

"Appropriate?!" Nabiki echoed. "Kasumi..." she started to say when the front door opened, causing them all to turn. A moment later, Akane came in, shaking out her hair. "Hey Akane, what happened?"

"Yeah, are you alright?" Ryoga asked, jumping to his feet as Akane approached.

"I'm fine, and nothing much," Akane said sourly and took a seat at the table. "The old bat tried to work me and Perfume half to death, I swear, but I managed. Where's Shampoo?"

"In the dojo, breaking stuff," Nabiki replied with a smirk. "Ranma's there with her."

"I may want to break some stuff myself," Akane commented as she leaned onto her hands. "Soon Li still not back?"

"No," Soun replied. "Did she go somewhere?"

"She was seriously angry after talking with Cologne. Didn't come back," Akane explained.

"Oh, that would explain the freaky weather," Nabiki commented, looking outside. "I take it she didn't fry the old woman though?"

"No," Akane replied, slightly disappointed. "That old woman has a lot of nerve!"

"I must say, it does seem... needlessly confrontational," Kasumi commented, getting curious looks from everyone. "Something wrong?"

"No... just if you say something like that, you know it is bad," Nabiki said with a shake of her head.

Just then the door to the front once more opened, and with it the rain and thunder ceased. Everyone once more turned to see Soon Li come down the hall, her clothes soaked through.

"Soon Li!" Kasumi said in surprise at her appearance. "Were you out in the rain all this time?"

"I find it soothing," she replied evenly.

"I'll get you a towel," Kasumi said quickly and headed off.

"Feeling better?" Soun asked.

Soon Li sighed and shook her head. "No," she replied. "I feel like I was talking to a wall!" she complained with an angry frown just as Kasumi returned with the towel. "Thanks Kasumi," she said, and dried herself some before taking a seat. "Is Shampoo alright?"

"She is... ticked," Nabiki replied.

"She has a right to be!" Akane complained. "That woman... she is beyond reason! What kind of standards does she have?! I know Shampoo could defeat Perfume, and that's not good enough for her?!"

"I don't think this has anything to do with standards, sadly," Soon Li responded. "This is a matter of pride now. Whether it is blinding her, or she is just too stubborn to admit error, I don't know, but I don't think this has much to do with Shampoo's fighting skills anymore. I told her Shampoo had advanced greatly, she wouldn't even listen."

"This is intolerable," Soun commented. "To come here and do this..."

Soon Li nodded in agreement before sighing. "Unfortunately, I don't think we have a whole lot of choice but to tolerate her. As long as Perfume is here, she has told me she'll be here," Soon Li said turning to notice Ranma and Shampoo enter the room. "And I have bad news..."

"What bad news?" Shampoo asked.

"She insisted on staying with Perfume, which means she'll be staying at the Nekohanten," Soon Li answered, much to the anger of the others. "I know, I know, I'm half of a mind to kick her to the curb myself, but then I have no idea what she'll be doing, and frankly I don't trust her anymore."

"Is this a keep your enemies closer kind of situation?" Ranma asked.

Soon Li weakly smiled and nodded. "Basically yes. At least at the Nekohanten we can keep an eye on her. By the way, Ranma, you should warn your friend Ukyo about her."

Ranma nodded as he and Shampoo sat down together. "Really think she'll pull something?" he asked.

"Without a doubt," Soon Li answered. "Shampoo, we can probably arrange things-"

"No," Shampoo quickly interjected. "Shampoo show her she no be pushed around. This Shampoo's home!"

Soon Li nodded in acceptance of this. "Alright, but if she gives you any grief... It'll be a few days at least anyway till you'll have to deal with her. In the meantime, let's just try to keep things as civil as possible."

"Do you think there is any chance she will change her mind?" Kasumi asked.

Sadly, Soon Li shook her head. "I'm not counting on it."

XXXXX

"So, we meet again, Shampoo Tendo," Kodachi declared.

It was the next day, and on their journey home from school, Kodachi had appeared. She stood on the street ahead, blocking Akane, Shampoo and Ranma's path. Shampoo gave the gymnast a flat look, while Akane and Ranma just sighed and shook their heads.

"Today is no good day to make Shampoo angry," Shampoo warned Kodachi, but she merely laughed.

"I warned you that I was far from finished," Kodachi said with a smile before seeing Ranma and growing happy and waving to him. "Oh, Ranma darling, don't worry. Soon we shall be together once more."

Ranma cringed while Shampoo glared at the other girl. "You have nerve!" Shampoo said with a growl, but Kodachi continued her calm. "You want fight Shampoo again? This time is no stupid rules."

Turning her attention back to her rival, Kodachi gave out a confident chuckle. "My last defeat was but a setback. Today you will learn the true terror of facing the Black Rose," Kodachi declared, pulling out her ribbon and spinning it around her.

Shampoo slammed her fist into her open palm, and smiled evilly at her opponent. "If want rematch, Shampoo more than ready," she said and slowly started stalking forward.

Ranma leaned over to Akane. "Ah... should we do something?"

"Why?" Akane asked in reply.

Kodachi in the meantime switched her ribbon's spin to be directed at Shampoo, and a cascade of black rose petals came with it. Shampoo wisely backed off, examining Kodachi closely. The gymnast responded with a taunting laugh. "What is this, afraid of a few flower petals?"

Shampoo frowned, debating a more cautious or direct approach. Kodachi, however, interrupted those deliberations, pulling out a handful of powder and tossing it into the ribbon's spin. Then, intensifying the spin, she created a fan like blast of air, sending the powder directly at Shampoo.

Shampoo's senses had already sped up to meet the threat. She dodged back, noticing as she did so another wind coming from behind her. She peeked over her shoulder to see Akane with hand extended.

"Why don't you try your own medicine?" Akane said in annoyance as she overwhelmed Kodachi's meager gust of wind with one of her own, blowing all the powder and petals right back at Kodachi.

The gymnast was too surprised to dodge or otherwise evade, and was quickly engulfed. A few seconds later, she emerged from the cloud produced, coughing. "You... wicked... wicked girl, what have you done?" Kodachi complained as she continued to cough.

"Still conscious?" Akane wondered aloud, having expected the powder to be Kodachi's usual sleep powder.

Kodachi finally opened her eyes, blinked several times, then looked over at them. Her eyes quickly grew wide and she whipped out with her ribbon but at the empty air. "Back I say!" she yelled as she started giving ground.

Ranma, Shampoo and Akane gave each other puzzled looks as Kodachi continued to retreat. "What's going on?" Akane asked in confusion.

"Back demons! Back I say!" Kodachi yelled as she continued to whip the empty air, dodging backwards and forwards from nothing.

"Some sort of hallucinogen?" Ranma suggested.

"I guess," Akane replied, watching in a bit of pity as Kodachi became ever more distressed. "Should we help her?"

The issue became moot as Kodachi finally turned and fled, screaming in panic from whatever illusions she was confronted by. Left behind, the others collectively sighed and shook their heads before continuing on home.

They departed, none noticing the large pair of white cat ears peeking out from behind a bush not far away. The owner of said ears cautiously looked around the bush to see the threesome depart. "Nyah, I forgot how strong they are," he said. "That boy was right, I'll need help."

As the giant ghost cat continued to watch the threesome depart, he took little notice of the happy humming behind him, nor the pink bows being tied into his hair. However, this situation only lasted another minute before he suddenly started frantically sweeping his hair in an attempt to remove them. He then quickly turned on his tormentor, making himself look as big and menacing as possible. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, finding a smiling girl behind him.

Said girl was Azusa Shiratori. Unmoved by the cat's attempt to frighten her, she merely continued to beam at him. "You're so much cuter with them," she said.

"I'm a male cat! We're not supposed to wear pink bows!" he complained before realizing that for a change this girl was not running from him. Suddenly he grasped her hands and asked, "Will you marry meee?"

"Of course not, silly," Azusa replied, deflating the cat's hopes. "Why are you spying on Charlotte?" She asked curiously.

"Charlotte?" he repeated in confusion.

"Yes... oh, are you a magic kitty too?" Azusa asked innocently.

"Kind of... wait, nyah, you mean Shampoo?" he asked.

"Shampoo?" Azusa repeated, making a disgusted face. "Such an uncute name. Charlotte's much better."

The ghost cat puzzled over this a bit, but soon shook his head, dismissing the matter and turned back around to see his quarry. Unfortunately Shampoo and the others had left sight. "Oh... I'll never get to marry her at this rate, nyah."

"Marry? You want to marry Charlotte?" Azusa asked excitedly.

"Yeah," the cat replied, looking back at Azusa.

"Are you going to have a cute wedding and everything?" Azusa asked, clapping her hands together in her excitement.

"Maybe," the cat replied before an idea hit him and he turned fully back to Azusa. "Will you help meee?"

Azusa contemplated. "Azusa doesn't know... Azusa wants Charlotte too."

"You want to marry her?" the ghost asked in shock.

"No, silly. Charlotte is my pet," Azusa explained with a smile but then frowned. "But that nasty Akane won't give her back to me."

Considering for a moment, the cat finally suggested, "If you help me marry Shampoo... I mean Charlotte, I suppose we can stay with you as your pets."

"Really?!" Azusa asked, overjoyed.

"Uh... sure," the ghost hesitantly responded.

Azusa happily hugged the giant cat. "Azusa is going to get her Charlotte back!" she said in a singing voice.

"But... Nyah, I think we still may need some more help," he cautioned.

Azusa withdrew, and nodded. "Yes, that nasty Akane is strong. What about that crazy flower lady?"

"Flower lady?" the cat asked.

XXXXX

"Sasuke! More aspirin!" Kodachi called out from her room where she was currently laying on her bed, a cold water bottle on her forehead. 'Never again! Hallucinogens are simply far too unpredictable!' Kodachi thought in misery.

She had fortunately managed to collect herself enough to take the counter agent not long after fleeing from Shampoo and the others. However, she was still feeling quite terrible. 'Damn that Akane. How was I to know she could twist the very winds to her will?' she asked herself, giving out another pained moan. "Sasuke!" she called out once more, getting no answer. "Where is that blasted ninja?" she asked, tossing aside the water bottle for the moment.

She was just in the process of standing up when the door to her room opened. "It is about..." she began to say, but instead of Sasuke entering, a giant white cat did. "AH!" she screamed, snatching up her ribbon from her bedside table and whipping it at the intruder. "Back demon!"

"What, nyah!" the cat said as it ducked away from the attack and retreated to the corner. "I just want to talk!"

"Talk, with a hallucination?! Preposterous! Now leave me be you chemically induced nightmare!" Kodachi warned, once more whipping her ribbon at the cat to ward him off.

"But I'm not a hallucination!" the cat protested, getting a laugh in response from Kodachi.

"Not a hallucination?! They all say that! Do you truly expect me to believe giant white talking cats exist?!"

"I'm a ghost cat," he replied.

Kodachi laughed once more. "Oh, even better, giant white talking ghost cats. Ludicrous! My subconscious is clearly desperate if it thinks this will deceive me!" she yelled, snapping her ribbon in warding at the cat once more.

"Wait, I just want to talk!" the cat pleaded.

Eying the cat for a moment, Kodachi calmed slightly. 'It's no good. Clearly the counter agent has failed, and that compound lasts for days,' she thought grimly. "Talk of what? What could a specter such as you possibly have to speak of with me?"

"It's about Shampoo," the cat replied, likewise relaxing some.

"Shampoo you say?" Kodachi replied curiously. "What about her?"

"You want to defeat her, right?" the cat asked.

"Yes, to claim my love, Ranma, who she yet keeps from me," Kodachi replied then laughed sadly. "Oh, the pity, I'm holding a conversation with a phantom."

"I'm a ghost, not a phantom," the cat complained, but Kodachi only laughed once more.

"That is not the kind of phantom I speak of," she replied and sighed before sitting on her bed once more. "I will no doubt awaken to find this all some fevered dream, but I suppose I can entertain this farce for now. After all, it may give me some insight in how to deal with that wretched girl."

"Uh... right," the ghost replied in uncertainty.

"Well then, speak cat! I have little patience for delusions!" Kodachi ordered.

"Right," the cat replied and started to lay out his plans.

XXXXX

Unaware of the convergence of elements now coming together against her, Shampoo arrived the next morning at the Nekohanten. It was her day to work, and as much as she was not looking forward to once more facing Cologne, she was determined to go through with it.

Within, she found Perfume already hard at work in the dining area, cleaning tables, looking thoroughly miserable. "What wrong with you?" Shampoo asked.

"I have go through 5 hours training last night. I hurt all over," Perfume replied.

Shampoo frowned, feeling some pity for her one time tormentor. Before she could give any response though, Cologne came from the kitchen and glared at Shampoo.

"Is Soon Li not coming?" Cologne asked evenly.

Shampoo couldn't help but grow angry at the look. "No! She say may be in later but not now!" she replied sharply.

"Speak with respect in my presence!" Cologne ordered, but Shampoo merely glared back at her in defiance.

The mutual stares from the two Amazons soon intensified into flaring auras from both, causing Perfume to withdraw. However, the confrontation was brief, Cologne turning away and calming. "This confrontation is beneath me," the elder declared.

Shampoo huffed and likewise calmed. Perfume breathed a sigh of relief.

Cologne took a slip of paper out and placed it on a nearby table. "If you can control yourself long enough, there is an order here. They requested you, though I can't see why."

Shampoo growled, angrily walked over and snatched the slip from the table while Cologne simply watched. Their eyes met once more, Cologne huffing and returning to the kitchen. Shampoo watched her go angrily then looked at the slip.

"Cat temple?!" Shampoo said in confusion. "Shampoo never been there before. Thought was deserted."

"I would no know. She ask for you though."

"She?!" Shampoo asked.

Perfume shrugged. "No one Perfume know," the Amazon replied.

Shampoo looked at the address a second longer but then shrugged herself. "Oh well."

Just then, Cologne put a metal delivery box on the serving counter. "Perhaps you do appeal to some types," she commented, leaving before Shampoo could respond.

'Some types?!' Shampoo echoed in anger, clenching her fists, but then calmed herself. 'She's not worth it,' she self advised before grabbing up the delivery box and leaving.

Perfume watched her leave before entering the kitchen. "Why you be so mean to her?" she impulsively asked, and instantly regretted it as Cologne now turned her glare on her. "Never mind," Perfume quickly conceded, shrinking back.

XXXXX

Back at the Tendo home, the other Tendos, Genma, Ryoga, and Ranma sat at the table eating lunch and talking.

"I think it's a splendid idea," Soun said.

"If it's no trouble," Ryoga said nervously.

"Of course not. I'd love to train with you," Akane said with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, and while you're at it maybe you can teach him some of your tricks, Akane. He could use them," Ranma said with a smirk, quickly angering his rival.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryoga asked in challenge.

"I'd like to have a decent challenge around here for once," Ranma continued to taunt.

Ryoga began to stand up in his anger. "So I'm not a challenge am I?!"

"No. Actually, you suck!" Ranma pressed on, likewise standing to meet the threat.

"Why you..." Ryoga growled, taking a quick kick at Ranma. Ranma, however, easily ducked under such.

Before the fight could escalate any further, the distinct sound of crackling electricity was heard. Both boys tensed and looked over to Soon Li who had a single raised hand, arcs of electricity jumping across her finger tips. "No fighting at the table you two!" she said sternly.

After a moment of giving each other challenging looks, both boys calmed and returned to their positions. Just then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Nabiki said and got up.

"Why don't you just admit it Ryoga? You're massively outmatched around here," Ranma said.

"Oh shut up!" Ryoga replied bitterly.

"Well, it's the-" Ranma started to say before suddenly finding himself blasted backwards and into the pond by a powerful gust of wind. Ranma recovered just in time to see Akane lower her arm and calmly return to her meal. "What'd you do that for?!" the female Ranma demanded as she stalked back to the table.

"Cause you were being a jerk, that's why! Now be quiet or you'll be going for another swim," Akane said plainly.

Ranma fumed for a second but then calmed and returned to her meal. Nabiki returned with a large package that she puts down on the table as she sat down.

"Hmm, what's this?" Soon Li asked.

"It's a package for us," Nabiki said with a shrug. "Don't think it was a delivery. There was no address or anything on it."

"Probably another fiancee mailing a love letter to Ranma," Akane said with a smirk.

"Shut up," Ranma whined before glaring at her father. "It better not be or you'll be in the hospital another week!"

While Genma nervously laughed, Kasumi said, "Go on and open it, Nabiki."

Nabiki nodded and undid the box's tape. She opened the lid, hearing a loud pop. Before anyone could react a cloud of purple smoke exploded outward.

Soon Li was already reacting, pushing the nearest person, Akane, towards the deck. Ranma an instant later was attempting to make her own retreat. However, both actions proved ultimately futile as the gas took hold. All those within the room were already senseless, and soon collapsed to the floor, asleep.

XXXXX

Later that day, the sun setting, Perfume looked up at the clock in the Nekohanten in concern. "It been hours, where Shampoo?" she asked.

Attending to the cooking for the half full restaurant, Cologne huffed. "It is not your concern. Back to your work."

"She never take this long. Maybe she in trouble," Perfume said.

Cologne eyed her student for a moment. "No doubt she has become... sidetracked. You should not concern yourself with the laziness of others, especially her," she said, but the answer was not satisfactory for Perfume.

The young Amazon once more looked to the clock, debating what to do, before finally returning to work. However, after a short time, while returning some dishes to the kitchen, she looked over at Cologne in consideration. The elder was busy cooking, giving Perfume a moment of opportunity.

XXXXX

Over at Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Mousse and Ukyo were likewise serving a small crowd of customers when the phone was heard ringing. "Mousse, watch these. I'll get it," Ukyo said and headed to the back.

Mousse did as bidden, serving out the Okonomiyaki as it finished grilling. Ukyo returned after a minute, but instead of retaking her position at the grill headed outside to retrieve the shop curtain.

"Okay everyone, an emergency has come up and I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave," Ukyo said to the disappointed groans of her customers. "Sorry folks, can't be helped. Come in tomorrow and I'll give you all a free lunch," she said with a friendly smile.

The customers were placated and headed out while Ukyo joined Mousse. "What's happening?" He asked.

"That was Perfume. Shampoo went on a delivery this morning to some place called the Cat temple and never came back. She tried calling the Tendos' but didn't get an answer," Ukyo explained. Mousse looked suddenly extremely worried. "Why don't you check out this Cat temple. I'll go see what's up at the Tendo's."

"Right!" Mousse agreed already rushing for the door, while Ukyo closed up the shop.

XXXXX

After a few inquiries, Mousse finally got directions to the Cat temple and was already roof hoping to get there. He arrived to find the temple was well named, with dozens of stray cats scattered around the exterior, hinting at many more out of immediate sight. Mousse pondered if this was in any way related when he noticed Azusa step out from the door of the building, cuddling a teddy bear and humming happily to herself.

Instinct told him to be discrete, so he quickly hid himself, going unnoticed by the girl. 'That girl looks way out of place here,' he thought, and began sneaking around. After getting out of the girl's view, he quickly crossed the yard to get to the wall of the building, and then leaped to the roof. Again moving silently he moved towards the sounds of conversation at the other end until he found a small hole in the roof affording him a view inside.

Maneuvering around the opening, he spotted Shampoo, locked in a cage, awake but seeming weak. Some more looking around revealed Kodachi not far away then finally a giant white cat with a large bell around its neck.

"You stupid cat, new year's isn't for months!" Kodachi said in annoyance.

"I didn't know that," the cat meekly complained.

"I don't know why I expected any better from a delusion!" the gymnast declared in disgust, marching out of view.

"Nyah... oh... it is going to be so much less dramatic this way..." the cat moaned.

"Less dramatic?" Kodachi asked in annoyance from out of view.

"Nyah... it will still work. The spell just needs 108 bell tolls, not to be on new year's," the cat replied.

"Then why... no... there is no sense is puzzling out this farce," Kodachi said tiredly.

Shampoo seemed to final build up her strength and yelled, "Shampoo no marry you!"

The ghost cat was undeterred. "Nyah, but you agreed. You said if your true love doesn't kiss you that you would be my briiide," he said getting an angry growl from Shampoo.

"You trick Shampoo! You no say anything about be cat, or time limit!" Shampoo replied then turned on Kodachi. "And why you do this?!"

"Why? I might as well amuse myself until that powder wears off," Kodachi answered

Shampoo looked shocked. "You still think you hallucinating?"

Kodachi laughed. "Please. Giant talking ghost cats, curses, hexes... you expect me to believe this is all real?! My subconscious should know better when trying to deceive me."

Shampoo was struck, at a loss for how to respond.

"Nyah, just accept it. Soon, I'll start ringing the bell and you'll changed into a cat forever. Who else would marry you?" the ghost asked, prompting Shampoo to slump her head.

"Shampoo would sooner die," she quietly replied.

"If you truly wish," Kodachi said with a chuckle, getting a glare from her rival.

Having heard enough, Mousse contemplated. 'They must have done something to the Tendos to keep them out of the way,' he realized. Briefly, the old urge began to take hold and he considered attempting Shampoo's rescue himself, but hanging his head he realized it was useless. 'No, it has to be Ranma. Better go help Ukyo.'

Being sure to keep himself out of sight and silent, Mousse jumped off the roof and rushed on his way to the Tendos. 'Don't worry Shampoo. I'll get him here in time.'

XXXXX

Around the same time, Ukyo arrived at the Tendos' and knocked at the door, but got no response. After calling out, she rounded the house until she arrived at the pond. There, within the common room, the residents were still asleep, a purple haze hanging in the air. Wisely Ukyo held her ground clear of the haze.

"Some sort of sleeping gas?" she wondered aloud, soon focusing on the package on the table where the haze was heaviest. Frowning as she plotted her approach, Ukyo drew her giant spatula. Taking in a deep breath, she rushed in, scooped up the package, and heaved it over the fence before returning to the outside.

The package now gone, the haze began to slowly clear. Ukyo in the meantime began dragging those she could clear of the room, starting first with Ranma and then Akane, both of whom were on the walkway. Several minutes later, with Genma and Ryoga likewise clear, Mousse finally arrived.

"Shampoo's in big trouble," he said as he approached from around the house, stopping at seeing the scene. "Oh great, that's just what I thought."

"Yeah, someone put them all out pretty good. What's happening with Shampoo?" Ukyo asked.

"I don't know how but some giant cat has done something to her that I think will change her permanently to a cat sometime tonight," Mousse explained.

"Uh... what?" Ukyo asked in confusion.

Mousse puzzled for a second. "Oh, right, you don't know about the curse. I haven't got time to explain, just trust me, it is real and very serious."

"Is there anything we can do?" she asked.

"Sounded like a kiss from Ranma might cure it," Mousse replied, looking to see the still female Ranma. Ukyo followed the gaze and again puzzled. "Uh, that's Ranma... he's cursed too," Mousse explained, having seen the curse during his brief stay with the Tendos.

"Oh..." Ukyo replied before getting back on topic. "He's out cold, and I couldn't rouse any of them so far. Go fetch Dr. Tofu and quick! Maybe he can get them up," she suggested.

With a nod, Mousse ran off, leaving Ukyo to continue her work.

XXXXX

Some time later, Dr. Tofu held an open bottle of vaporous fluid just below the now male Ranma's nose. Across the yard, Mousse helped a still groggy Akane to a sitting position.

"Wh...What happened?" Akane asked weakly.

"You were drugged," Mousse answered.

"Drugged? What for? By who?" Akane asked in confusion.

"I don't know exactly who. Look Shampoo is in trouble. Two girls and some ghost cat are holding her. I think they drugged you all to keep Ranma away from Shampoo."

"Ranma, why? What's going on?" Akane asked urgently.

"I'm not precisely sure, but from what I heard, the cat has put some spell on Shampoo. If Shampoo isn't kissed by Ranma, she'll be changed permanently to a cat sometime tonight."

Akane grew pale at the implication. "That's sound like the Maomolin," Akane said as she tried to force herself to her feet. She nearly lost her footing, but Mousse caught her. "But he's never done anything near this serious. You say there was two girls with him?"

"Yes, I didn't recognize either of them," Mousse replied.

Akane looked to the others. Ranma was likewise rising to his feet, but the others still remained sleeping. Tofu turned to Akane and shook his head.

"Let's go," Ranma said. "We've lost enough time."

"Right," Akane agreed. "Doctor, can you-"

"Yes, go on, all of you. I'll see to them. You two are the only ones that will be awake for a while. Most the others got a much higher dosage I'm afraid. It will be a while before any of them will be conscious," he said.

"Okay," Akane confirmed and was joined by Ranma, Ukyo and Mousse. Together they departed.

XXXXX

As the group approached the temple, Ranma asked, "Who the hell is this Maomolin?"

Akane shook her head. "It's a ghost, a ghost cat actually. Me and Shampoo ran into him in China a couple years ago. He's obsessed with finding a bride and seeing as how he's a cat Shampoo got most his attention. He's been bugging us ever since but I thought we got rid of him when we returned to Japan," she answered.

"Obviously you didn't," Ukyo pointed out before noticing Ranma shaking. "Ranma?"

"C... Ca... CAT?!" Ranma stammered out.

"Yeah, cat, why? Is there a problem?" Mousse asked with a frown.

Akane sighed. "Ranma is afraid of cats."

Mousse glared at the other boy. "Just great! The place is surrounded with dozens of them, maybe even hundreds!"

"H...h...hu..nd..reds?!" Ranma stuttered.

"We can get you through a couple of stupid cats," Ukyo said.

"Yeah, but I doubt those two girls will let us by. They are definitely helping the cat, although the one seemed to think she was dreaming or something."

"Dreaming... oh man, that must be Kodachi," Akane moaned, remembering the incident of the previous day.

"Who cares. We'll just force our way by," Ukyo said confidently.

"Kodachi must have been the one that drugged us, so be cautious," Akane warned as they approached.

Up ahead, Azusa, who was skipping around the temple stopped at noticing the foursome's approach and called out. "We got visitors!"

Kodachi soon came out and joined her. "Oh my, it seems I underestimated our opposition," she said. "I suppose it is for the best, this dream was getting rather dull."

"You're silly," Azusa commented with a smile, earning a glare from Kodachi.

Stopping at the entrance, Akane glared at the pair. "I should have guessed, Azusa too. Get out of the way or you're going to get hurt!"

"Azusa won't let you steal her Charlotte again!" the skater retorted.

"Yes, I still haven't forgotten your interference from yesterday, Akane Tendo," Kodachi said, pulling out her ribbon. Just then a bell tolled nearby prompting Kodachi to look briefly behind her and smile. "You hear that? 107 left to go."

"We'll see about that! Come on!" Akane declared and together she, Ukyo and Mousse rushed forward.

Ranma was about to join them when the distinct meowing of cats pulled him up short. "Nice kitties," he said fearfully as several cats came into view, freezing him in terror.

In the meantime, Azusa rushed forward to meet their attackers, while Kodachi held her ground at the gate. Azusa jumped into the air, and her shoes sprang forth roller skate wheels and she directed herself straight at Akane. Ukyo and Mousse, in the meantime, made for Kodachi, who pulled out a ball and threw it at the pair. Both dodged into the air, avoiding an explosion that came as the ball hit the ground.

Closer to the entrance, Azusa attempted a spinning kick to Akane's head. However, Akane easily bent with the blow. Unfortunately, a wave of dizziness resulted from the quick maneuver, allowing Azusa to switch to a sweeping kick that sent Akane to the ground. Before Akane could recover, Azusa dashed away.

'Damn it! Still not one hundred percent,' Akane thought with a frown. "We're not on ice this time, Azusa!" Akane yelled and blasted out with a gust of wind at the skater. Unfortunately, Azusa used her added skating speed to avoid the attack.

"Yes but Azusa is too quick for you," Azusa taunted.

'Damn, she's right,' Akane thought in irritation as the bell continued to toll. 'This is going to take way too long.'

In the meantime, Mousse and Ukyo were joined together in throwing knives and spatulas respectively at Kodachi who fended them off with her ribbon. The gymnast then tossed three more balls at them, forcing the pair to dodge in separate directions. Several more came, forcing the pair to continue dodging, but also taking their attention. Seeing an opening, Kodachi jumped just in front of Mousse as he landed.

Caught off guard Mousse could only guard as Kodachi barraged him with a blur of clubs. "Feel the fury of my improved Attack of a Thousand Clubs!" she declared as she attacked. After only a second Mousse, started to crumble under the onslaught, but was saved as Ukyo jumped in, forcing Kodachi back with a sweeping strike of her battle spatula.

Turning to her new opponent, Kodachi pulled out a hoop and flung it at Ukyo. Ukyo blocked with the flat of her own weapons, sparks coming from the contact. "You're going to have to do a whole lot better than that!" Ukyo yelled.

"But of course," Kodachi calmly replied, once more wielding her ribbon. With it, she snagged a nearby garbage can and sent it flying at Ukyo.

'How the-' Ukyo thought in shock before being hit by the can. She quickly recovered though, rolling and tossing several more of her throwing spatulas at the gymnast. Back on her feet, she tossed several more and rushed in behind them. While Kodachi fended off all the projectiles, she soon found Ukyo on top of her, swinging away. She was forced to give ground, finally flipping to the rooftop.

"Quite impressive for a commoner such as yourself," Kodachi said.

"Oh shut up and get down here!" Ukyo yelled.

Kodachi smiled and did as requested, leaping directly at Ukyo. However, Kodachi pulled something black and white out and threw it at her opponent. Ukyo deflected it with her spatula then swung back at Kodachi knocking her to the ground. Unfortunately for Ukyo the object Kodachi threw burst into a purple gas at her side. Ukyo began coughing and staggered away from the object, now revealed to be a bouquet of black roses. Kodachi got painfully back to her feet then watched with satisfaction as Ukyo crumbled to her knee, coughing.

Watching this all, helplessly paralyzed by fear, Ranma was counting away with each toll of the bell. "51... 52... come on guys... 53... ahh shit! It's just a couple of crummy cats!" he said, but one look at the cats destroyed his resolve. "Damn it! Wait... they are just cats," he thought with an idea, and reared back his hand. With a thunderous clap, he slammed his fist into his palm. It stung, but the effect was immediate as the cats retreated in all directions, leaving the way ahead open. "Alright!" Ranma said and began running ahead.

Some distance away, Akane was still having trouble with Azusa. Try as she might to pin down the skater, the combination of Azusa's speed, and Akane's continued weakened state was thwarting such efforts. Azusa, however, was making good use of hit and run tactics, rushing in after every attack, and tagging Akane with a hit. Each blow was mostly diffused though, leaving the two at an effective stalemate.

'I'm tired of this. Let's see her dodge this,' Akane thought, once more throwing a wind punch, and as expected Azusa dodged and moved in. However, this time, Akane had a new plan of attack. She quickly followed up her wind punch with a twisting one directed into the heavens. Rather than a gust of wind, a miniature tornado came forth.

Azusa was taken by surprise by the new attack, and attempted to dodge. However, she found herself with no traction, and too late realize she was being sucked up by the winds. All she could do was let out a startled scream before being carried away by the tornado.

"Serves you right," Akane mumbled, feeling drained. 'Damn this drug,' she thought, noticing Ranma nearing the door.

Ranma opened the door to the temple triumphantly, but his pleasure was short lived. With the doors opening, a booby trap was set off, and he found himself in another purple cloud. "Damn it, got careless!" he managed to say before his body seized up and he fell onto his face helplessly.

Seeing this, Akane rushed over to him only to have Kodachi move to block her path. Akane did not stop, however. Instead, she reached ahead of herself, and as if grabbing the air, she sharply pulled back. The maneuver puzzled Kodachi, but not for long, as like Azusa before her, she found herself caught up in a suction force. Startled by this, she had little chance to guard as Akane leaped into the air and double drop kicked her straight through the flimsy wall of the temple.

While this was happening, a recovered Mousse went to Ukyo's side. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"I'll be fine," Ukyo said through her coughs. "Help Akane."

Mousse nodded and rushed over to Akane, helping her back to her feet.

"I'm really feeling wiped out," Akane said as she got to her feet before looking at Ranma. "He got hit with some paralysis powder. We'll have to carry him."

Together, the two martial artists picked up Ranma and made their way to the back of the temple where the bell continued to toll. "How many do you think it has been?" Mousse asked.

"Too many," Akane replied tensely.

The sounds of roller skates behind them alerted them to danger. Both looked back to see Azusa rushing at them.

"Azusa will not let you take her little Charlotte!" the skater called out as she charged.

"I'll handle her, go!" Mousse said, dropping Ranma fully into Akane's grasp before turning to face Azusa. With a barrage of chains, Azusa was forced to abandon her charge and dodge. Mousse pressed on, quickly forcing her back.

Unfortunately, with Ranma's full weight, Akane found herself unable to manage. She was forced to ease him to the floor, and prop him up against a wall. "Wait here, I'll bring her to you," she said.

"As if I have a choice!" Ranma mumbled through his paralyzed lips.

Akane rushed on, coming out a rear exit to find a long raised walkway leading to an enclosure with the bell, the Maomolin wielding the bell knocker. Next to it, Shampoo was inside a cage. Akane was shocked as she saw the scene, noting Shampoo had already begun to shrink and was sporting a pair of cat ears.

On seeing Akane, the cat became agitated. "No, no, no! Not now! Nyah, I'm so close!" he said and quickly began speeding up his bell tolls.

"Stop it!" Akane yelled, blasting the cat with a gust of wind, sending him toppling over the nearby rail. Once more, Akane felt dizzy and had to brace herself again the door. Shaking away her weakness, she looked over at Shampoo to see she was already full converted to a cat. 'Does that mean...?' Akane thought in a bit of panic, but dismissed it. 'No, he was still trying to ring the bell, I still have time,' she assured herself and rushed over.

Shaking off her clothes, Shampoo walked through the wide bars of her cage to meet Akane and meowed urgently. "Don't worry, Ranma is just inside," Akane assured her, reaching over to pick her up, but heard a loud thump of someone landing behind her on the walkway. She spun to find Kodachi, a bit worse for wear, facing her.

"You haven't gotten rid of me yet Ms. Tendo," Kodachi said.

"Nyah, that's right, I'm almost done," the ghost cat said from the other side, pulling himself back onto the bell platform.

Akane looked back and forth between the two, debating her best approach. Deciding Kodachi would simply interfere with any attack on the ghost cat anyway, she charged the gymnast, recklessly tackling her. "Shampoo, Go!" she shouted as the two struggled.

Shampoo hesitated for a second, but as the ghost cat once more started to ring the bell, she started to race to Ranma.

Akane and Kodachi continued to struggle for another second until another wave of dizziness hit Akane. Taking advantage, Kodachi brought her leg up and kicked Akane back. Akane stumbled backward into the railing and, off balance, fell over it. Kodachi was not finished though and lashed out with her ribbon, wrapping it around Akane's neck as she flipped over.

Disoriented, Akane found her fall suddenly cut short about a foot off the ground, her throat baring her full weight. Desperately, Akane reached up and snagged the ribbon, trying to relieve the pressure on her windpipe.

"You pesky nuisance girl," Kodachi cursed as got back to her feet, pulling back on the ribbon to ensure Akane remained helpless. Whatever plans Kodachi had, however, were forgotten as she found a ball of hissing and scratching fur in her face. She screamed out, releasing her hold on her weapon, subsequently dropping Akane to the ground, and desperately tried to remove the feline Shampoo from her face.

With an angry yank, Kodachi finally got a hold of Shampoo and pulled her free. "Why you little evil thing! I think I'll take you to the pound and have fixed! Maybe that will teach you some respect!" she snapped out in her anger.

"Not in my lifetime!" Akane called out just as she flipped back over the rail and kick Kodachi directly in the face, sending the gymnast crashing into the opposite rail, unconscious. Shampoo safely dropped to the walkway, looking up at Akane.

Akane took in several heavy breaths before noticing the silence. 'No,' she thought, and looked back at the bell to see the Maomolin with a giant grin of victory on his face. Still not quite willing to accept what was happening, Akane looked back at Shampoo, but the transformed girl could only hang her head in confirmation of the worst. "Shampoo, no," she said weakly before collapsing to the ground.

%End Chapter 11

Don't you just hate cliff hangers?

Lots of notes for this chapter. First, the Maomolin. In the original version I noted I didn't have much to base my writing on for him save some summaries. Now I do, and he was way off, which isn't too surprising. First and foremost I was depicting him as WAY too competent. Also, the whole spell was supposed to be on new years. I'm stuck with that, but I don't want to imply that amount of time has passed I cheated a bit there. In my defense, since he could speed up the tolls, it is a given the time doesn't play that crucial a role, so I had it just be for dramatic effect instead of a requirement. That and I also added in how and why he gathered Kodachi and Azusa, whereas before it just happened.

Second, Kodachi. In the original there was no notion that Kodachi was hallucinating or thinking such. As such, her actions come off as worse than usual. I could have left that, but this was more amusing, plus it solved a few compatibility issues with a later chapter. In general, I don't like to bash on characters so it is giving her a bit of an out for her actions.

Next up, Cologne. Kept her stuff largely intact, but that was necessary. I must admit, when I original plotted this, Cologne was the unfortunate sacrifice. I've tried to emphasize more in previous chapters that this is atypical behavior for the Matriarch. This will become even more apparent in the coming chapters, but Cologne in this chapter... well yeah.

Oh, and who is our mystery man you may ask? Those who read the previous version of this story to completion can probably take a good guess. In any case, you'll be seeing more of him, but he is a new character, so if you haven't read the original, you won't know him yet. I never did in the original explain how the Maomolin found Shampoo again, and he was convenient for that purpose so I went with that.

Lastly, I am breaking up the original version of this chapter here. It was way long and needed a cut, especially with the new scenes added. So, next chapter will conclude the first arc of Most Unlikely of Friends. First you say? Yes, there are a total of four arcs to Most Unlikely of Friends, although the latter two are already in prose, so once I get to them, they should convert a lot faster, not to mention they are also shorter, the first being the longest... I think. Well, at least in chapter count they were shorter. Hard to say if that will be the case when I get done editting, but I suspect so as I have no major additions for those planned.


	13. Chapter 12

%Chapter 12

"There it is," Genma called out as he spotted the Cat temple ahead. He, Dr. Tofu and Ryoga approached at a running pace.

"Do you think we're too late?" Ryoga asked, their group having left over an hour later than Ranma's.

"Hard to say," the doctor replied as they rushed up the temple stairs.

There they found Ukyo still in the process of recovering. Mousse was also outside, having Azusa now wrapped from the neck down in heavy chains.

"You won't have my-" Azusa shouted indignantly but Mousse stuck a piece of tape on her mouth to quiet her.

"Shut it!" he said angrily before noticing the new arrivals.

"Mousse," the doctor called out as they ran up. "Did you make it in time?"

"I... I don't know," Mousse replied, looking back at the temple. "The bell..."

In answer to their question an infuriated yell came. "FIX IT! FIX IT RIGHT NOW!"

"I don't think you did," Genma sadly noted.

Together the group rushed inside to find Akane on top of the ghost cat, holding him by the throat, her aura flaring in extreme rage. Ranma remained unmoving against the wall, Shampoo laying despondently at his feet.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIX IT?!" Akane yelled.

"I can't, I can't, I swear," the ghost cat pleaded. "I only know how to cast the spell, not dispel it, Nyah."

Akane tensed, and with a scream of fury got up and threw the cat into the nearest wall. Panting in her fury, her eyes shifted to the back walkway. There the still unconscious Kodachi lay, and, lost to any emotional control at the moment, Akane started stalking towards her. "I'LL KILL HER!" She yelled. Fortunately for Kodachi, the others quickly intervened, blocking her path and restraining her. "LET ME GO! SHE HAS TO PAY FOR THIS!" Akane yelled in frustration, tears forming in her eyes.

"Akane, please, this won't solve anything. You have to calm down," Tofu said, but Akane continued to struggle.

"CALM DOWN?!" she repeated in outrage. "HOW CAN I CALM DOWN AFTER WHAT'S HAPPENED TO SHAMPOO?!" Akane continued to struggle in vain for another several seconds, but finally misery seemed to set in, and, crying, she gave in and collapsed to the ground.

Meanwhile, the Maomolin had crawled around the scene to where Shampoo lay, and attempted to approach her, but Shampoo hissed and clawed at him in warning. He quickly backed off.

A still weakened Ukyo walked up behind him with the help of her battle spatulas, using it as a cane. "Don't you get it you stupid cat, she's not going to marry you! Not even like this!" she said, getting the ghost cat's attention.

"But-"

"You think there is a but here?" Ukyo asked with a frown. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

The ghost cat looked back at Shampoo who was glaring at him in fury. "I... I'm sorry. I never thought..." he said, the seriousness of the situation finally seeming to sink in.

"Never thought? Never thought!" Akane repeated in growing rage once more. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!"

"I... well..." he said, looking around those gathered for any sympathetic looks, but found only anger and resentment. "Nyah, I can't cure her but I can allow her to leave the temple. Nyah, I know it's not enough but it's all I can do."

"If you weren't already dead I'd kill you," Akane said darkly.

"Akane, calm down," Ryoga pleaded, gaining the girl's attention. His words seemed to get through to her, Akane taking in shaky breaths and simply closing and wiping her eyes. Then, an idea came to her and she looked to Mousse. "That bracelet..."

"It's no good, Akane, whoever uses it would just be in the same boat Shampoo is in now," Mousse said.

"I don't care!" Akane exclaimed.

"No! It wouldn't do you any good anyway. Shampoo would have to be willing and I don't think she will be," Mousse said, looking to Shampoo.

Akane did likewise, seeing Shampoo shake her head in response. "It's not fair! It's not fair! If we'd just been quicker..." Akane mumbled in despair.

"You did your best," Tofu tried to console her, but instead she only grew angrier.

"Obviously my best wasn't good enough!" Akane replied bitterly.

XXXXX

That something was very wrong was all too obvious to Perfume. Soon Li had arrived early that morning, hours before Perfume normally even got up. Although the young Amazon had wanted to inquire what was happening, Cologne insisted she stay in her room while she herself talked with her adoptive daughter. Cologne did not return, leaving Perfume perplexed.

Finally the time came to awaken, and after seeing to her normal morning tasks, she headed downstairs to find Soon Li just outside speaking with an odd man Perfume had never seen before. The conversation was in English, a language she had no familiarity with, so Perfume's curiosity went unsatisfied by this. Moving to the dining room she found Cologne at a table, absently tracing the top of a golden bracelet, seemingly lost in thought. At seeing Perfume, the elder quickly withdrew the bracelet into her sleeve.

"It seems we will not be opening the restaurant today," Cologne said evenly.

"What happen?" Perfume asked.

"Nothing of consequence," Cologne replied, looking away. "You are free for the day."

'This is something to do with Shampoo,' Perfume thought, debating whether to stay and ask Soon Li about it, or go right to the source. Deciding on the latter, Perfume headed out for the Tendos'.

XXXXX

At the Tendos', Kasumi came into the hall, summoned by the sound of the telephone. She picked it up in a rush, hopeful. "Hello? ...Oh Soon Li... Oh... Mmm... Yes... I see... I'll tell the others... no, it's okay... Yes... Goodbye." By the end of the conversation, any hope Kasumi felt was drained away. With a heavy sigh, she turned to the common room and entered.

She arrived just in time to find Perfume who had just been told the bad news. "It no fair! Why this always happen to me?! Now I have marry... RANMA!" the young Amazon wailed.

Gathered around the room, Akane, Ryoga, Ukyo, Mousse, and Ranma glared at the girl, while Shampoo, still stuck in her cat form, seemed to be lost to the world in Ranma's arms.

"Oh shut up Perfume!" Akane snapped after a second. "You're not the one stuck as a cat!"

The anger of Akane's tone shocked Perfume, causing her to withdraw slightly, before sniffling and nodding. "I is sorry. Akane is right. I only think of myself," she conceded with a bowed head.

"Nothing to worry about anyway. I'm not marrying you," Ranma said.

"May have to if Cologne get involved," Perfume cautioned.

"I'm not afraid of the old ghoul," Ranma said with a frown.

"Should be, she very powerful," Perfume replied.

Mousse groaned. "Shut up about the stupid marriage already!" he yelled, prompting the mini argument to end. "We have to find a way to cure Shampoo!"

At that point, Akane took notice of Kasumi. "Kasumi, who was that?" Akane asked, already not liking the look on Kasumi's face.

"It was Soon Li," Kasumi replied.

"And?" Mousse asked tensely.

"She did get in contact with him but... she said it was no good. It apparently can't be safely dispelled," Kasumi replied, sitting down. "She also asked about potentially moving it, like you suggested Mousse, but it seems it is specific to Shampoo's curse."

Mousse hung his head. "Damn it," he cursed.

"She is still trying to contact some of the other magic users we have met, but..." Kasumi continued on, simply shaking her head at the end.

"It's no good. The only thing that can cure her is the Nyanniichuan and we've had absolutely no luck in finding it," Akane said in despair.

Frustrated, Mousse pulled out the falcon bracelet and looked at it angrily. "Damned thing! Totally useless." Perfume looked at the bracelet then frowned. Noticing the look, Mousse asked her, "What?"

"Is nothing, just thought look much like bracelet saw earlier," Perfume replied. "But, is different," she said with a shake of her head.

Mousse sat up straight. "What do you mean? Different in what way?"

"Different design, no birds, dragons," Perfume replied honestly, her answer having the unexpected result of shocking Mousse.

"Dragons?!" he asked tensely. When Perfume did not immediately answer, he quickly pulled out the scroll he had brought with the falcon bracelet and looked it over. After a second he found the right spot and turned it to Perfume. "Like this?"

Perfume looked at the scroll to see two pictures. One displayed the bracelet they had currently while the other was its mate. With a nod, Perfume answered. "Yes, think so."

"That's it... are you sure? Where? Where'd you see it?" Mousse asked quickly.

"What's so important about the other bracelet?" Ryoga asked before Perfume could answer. "I thought you said it was useless."

"By itself, just one bracelet can only transfer a curse. But together, they can split a curse in two," Mousse explained.

"Split?" Akane asked. "Like in half? That means one of us could absorb half of Shampoo's curse?"

"Yes!" Mousse replied excitedly, his excitement finally seeming to rouse Shampoo to the conversation. "The split curses would probably leave both persons with the original Jusenkyo curse... or both people would be permanently half cat," he said in uncertainty, starting to reference the scroll once again.

Akane tensed with hope. "Who cares! It's better than being completely cat!"

Ukyo turned to Perfume. "Perfume, where did you see it?"

"Cologne have it," Perfume replied.

"She's got it?!" Ranma said, already starting to get to his feet. "Alright! Let's get it!"

Needing no further prompting, the martial artists rushed to their feet and out the door, Perfume trailing the group, leaving Kasumi behind.

'I hope this works,' Kasumi thought, but could not help but smile just a little.

XXXXX

Back at the Nekohanten. Soon Li dropped into a chair, exhausted. 'Exhausted all the good leads,' she thought grimly. Before despair could set in her attention shifted to the door with the arrival of Akane and her group. However, their attention was immediately on Cologne.

"Alright old lady, where's that dragon bracelet you have?" Ranma demanded, placing Shampoo on a nearby table.

Cologne eyed the group for a moment, then gave a particular scolding look to Perfume before pulling out the bracelet in question. "I assume you are referring to this, the Bracelet of Friendship."

"That's the one," Ranma confirmed.

"It really is it," Mousse added. "Hand it over."

"And why should I give such a valuable magical artifact to you?" the elder asked.

"We need it to cure Shampoo," Mousse replied.

"Cure?" Soon Li repeated in shock. "How?"

"By splitting it," Akane replied.

Cologne raised an eyebrow at this. "I see, so you have its mate. Hmph, well, I am afraid you are out of luck."

"WHAT?!" Several of the other said in shock.

Cologne looked away. "The young lady got herself into this situation so she'll have to get herself out. It is not my responsibility to aid her."

Soon Li jumped to her feet. "You can't be serious!"

"I am completely serious," Cologne calmly replied.

Ranma growled. "Look, I'm not arguing with you..." he said and rushed forward. Cologne seemed unconcerned.

"DO-" Mousse started to say just as Ranma in a lightning quick motion made a grab for the bracelet. However, just as he did, the bracelet glowed. An instant later, Ranma found himself being thrown back. "-N'T... touch it," Mousse completed with a bit of a sigh.

"Are you trying to steal my property young man?" Cologne asked in an unconcerned manner.

Ranma shook his head and returned to his feet. "What the... What happened?"

"You can't take it forcibly. It can only be given or taken from someone who is dead. It is one of its enchantments," Mousse replied.

"Just great," Ranma mumbled.

Cologne huffed in dismal of Ranma and returned the bracelet to her sleeve.

"This is going too far, Cologne! I won't let you get away with this! I'll challenge you if I have to!" Soon Li said forcefully.

"So, you will ignore the vow you made?" Cologne asked back harshly.

Soon Li hesitated. "This is not what it was meant for!"

"Nonetheless, it applies," Cologne pointed out, causing Soon Li to tense but reluctantly back down.

Seeing this, Ranma once more moved forward in challenge. "I'll challenge you then, ghoul!"

Cologne chuckled. "You haven't a clue. This is an internal Amazon challenge that Soon Li proposes. An outsider, especially a male, cannot make such a challenge."

Mousse nodded. "She's right, that's the law. The only challenge she need accept from you is one to marry her," he pointed out, much to Ranma's disgust.

"Don't worry, sonny boy, you wouldn't stand a chance," Cologne said.

"How can you be so damned heartless?!" Ranma asked in frustration.

Cologne responded by staring at Ranma with a piercing glare. This was soon broken though when Akane stepped forward.

"I'm an Amazon, and female. I can challenge you!" Akane said with a determined look.

"Is you crazy?!" Perfume whispered from behind.

"You have nothing to offer me, Akane Tendo," Cologne dismissing, turning away.

"A challenge of blood then," Akane added without hesitation. Of the group, the Amazons, even Cologne, tensed.

"Are you sure? You realize the ramification of such a challenge," Cologne asked over her shoulder.

"I do and I don't care," Akane replied before she noticed Shampoo had jumped down and was clawing at her pant leg to gain her attention. Akane looked down to see Shampoo shake her head urgently. "No Shampoo, I've got to do this," she replied.

"Akane..." Soon Li said, her look making clear she too did not approve.

"Yes, no be stupid. Withdraw challenge," Perfume urged her.

Akane looked between the various Amazons and replied. "No!"

"I don't understand, what's a blood challenge?" Ryoga asked in confusion.

"Normally, when two Amazons have a dispute, they can challenge each other. Usually, they both put up something the other wants. If one doesn't have something the other wants, though, they can instead stake their life on the challenge," Mousse explained.

"Meaning?" Ranma asked tensely.

"Meaning, sonny boy, that if she loses, she dies," Cologne answered.

Hearing this, both Ranma and Ryoga moved to Akane. "Akane no! You can't!" They both said nearly simultaneously.

Stubbornly, Akane replied. "My challenge stands."

"One day," Soon Li interjected quickly. "It is customary," she added, looking to Cologne.

"It is," Cologne conceded. "One day. Meet me tomorrow at this time, at that open lot near your home. That should be adequate," she detailed before hopping away.

"Fine," Akane replied, turning and leaving, much to the others shock.

"Can she still back out?" Ryoga asked.

"Yes, but she's not going to," Soon Li said with a shake of her head.

XXXXX

Later that night, after numerous attempts by the rest of the family to dissuade her, Akane was found in the dojo, vigorously practicing. Soon Li was the last, coming to the doorway of the dojo and simply watching for a moment. After Akane finished executing a particularly intense barrage of kicks and punches, she paused to look at her trainer.

"Please don't," Akane said simply.

"Okay, I won't," Soon Li replied reluctantly.

To all the others, Akane had kept her face unreadable, but at hearing Soon Li's words, her facade cracked, worry showing through. "Why can't you challenge her?" Akane asked.

"It's complicated," Soon Li replied. "It is a vow I made a long time ago. You remember when I fought that man?" she asked, gaining a nod from Akane. "That was out in the countryside, and even then I wasn't pushed to my limits. Against Cologne... It is too dangerous, for everyone. And it goes beyond even that," Soon Li explained.

Akane nodded in understanding.

"I promised your father... and your mother that I would protect you all," Soon Li said sadly. "It seems I am failing at that."

Akane looked to her teacher, remembering the last anniversary of their mother's death when Soon Li had lingered at her mother's grave marker. "I know Mom would understand," Akane assured her. "This is my choice. If I don't, Shampoo will be like that for the rest of her life. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try."

Soon Li nodded in acceptance.

"Do you really think she'd do it, go that far?" Akane asked.

Soon Li hung her head. "Normally if the Matriarch wants to leave the option of mercy open she accepts a normal challenge with no compensation," she noted, shaking her head.

Akane hung her head. "I... don't want to die," she admitted.

"Few do," Soon Li replied before growing serious and walking up to Akane. "I'm going to tell you something Cologne once told me that may ironically be the key to defeating her," she said, gaining Akane's attention. "There are three ways to defeat someone: through the mind, the body or the heart. I think it is very apt right now."

"What does it mean?"

"The mind signifies your intelligence, your strategy, your tactics and your skills. The body signifies your physical advantages, what weapons you are wielding, your strength, your endurance, your speed and the like," Soon Li explained. "Unfortunately, on those grounds, as good as you are, I'm afraid you can't win. Cologne knows every technique of the wind school and probably knows ways to counter every one of them. Physically too, she may not look it, but she is quite capable of at least matching your abilities."

"So you're saying I can't win?" Akane asked with a frown.

"No, remember the third part, the heart."

"I don't think she's going to fall in love with me," Akane said with a weak laugh.

Soon Li smiled and shook her head. "No, although you bring up a good example of just how the heart can change the outcome. I outmatched your father in skill and ability as well. It was by the heart he won, but the heart symbolizes everything about one's character. Your prejudices, your overconfidence, your fears... all of these things can be leveraged to win a battle."

Akane frowned, but nodded.

"Cologne will believe you are far below her. She'll take you lightly, maybe even play with you. Use that to your advantage. Play on her overconfidence. As long as she believes she is in control of the fight, she may not get serious. Use that." Soon Li advised. "As to your techniques, you have to surprise her. You'll need to devise new ways to use them."

"I understand," Akane replied.

"Your heart is also important. Never hesitate. Never give up. If she is going to beat you make her work to do it. Force her to go all out. If you feel yourself faltering just remember why you are doing this."

"I will," Akane said with a reinvigorated nod.

Soon Li likewise nodded, squeezed Akane's by the shoulder reassuringly then walked across the dojo before turning to face Akane in a battle pose. Akane nodded and took up a fighting posture of her own.

XXXXX

'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!' Ranma mentally cursed as he, the other residents of the Tendo home, Ukyo and Mousse approached the designated spot. 'This is beyond frustrating. I should be doing this! Why does it have to be Akane?!'

Sensing Ranma's tension, Ryoga moved up next to him. "There's no way I'm going to let that old ghoul kill Akane," he whispered.

"I'm with you all the way Ryoga. If it comes to that, we're jumping in," Ranma replied in whisper.

"Count me in too," Mousse said from behind, gaining the two boys' attention. Beside him, Ukyo likewise nodded.

Behind everyone Soon Li closed her eyes in thought. 'If it comes to that...' Shaking her head, she reopened her eyes and looked ahead. 'It absolutely cannot come to that,' she mentally declared.

The group arrived to find Cologne and Perfume already waiting. Akane, dressed in her gi, stepped forward. Behind her, Soun started biting on his nails in his nervousness, and the others gathered around him, Kasumi in particular carrying Shampoo who like all the others was looking on anxiously.

"I give you one last chance to withdraw your challenge," Cologne as she too stepped forward.

"Give us the bracelet and I'll withdraw the challenge," Akane replied.

"Which I will not," Cologne replied. "Such a waste, really. Very well, let us begin."

Akane quickly took up a fighting posture while Cologne simply continued balancing on her staff, calm and confident. The standoff continued on for a moment, Akane fighting a little war with her own nervousness, debating her opening gambit. Finally, she suddenly narrowed her eyes and took a quick step forward, pulling one arm back. Unfortunately, Cologne was not fooled by the feint and remained in place.

'No fooling her,' Akane thought with a frown. 'Guess I'll have to start this up.' With that thought, Akane nearly replicated her previous move, but this time fired off a blast of air at Cologne. However, much to Akane's confusion, the elder once more did not seem to react. 'Did I fool her?' Akane wondered, but her answer came when the blast hit, and deflected harmlessly against some form of invisible barrier.

Frowning, Akane decided to test the barrier's strength, firing off several more bursts, but all were as easily deflected as the first. Cologne, all the while, simple held her position, calm as ever. Akane scowled and pressed on, leaping into the air and dashing about, continuing her attacks, hoping to find a limit, or crack in the invisible wall. But, there was none to be found.

'This is useless, I have to get close,' Akane thought grimly, and with a sigh rushed in.

Finally Cologne's calm vanished, replaced with seriousness. As Akane came into range she began a barrage of punches. Cologne blocked each, and leaped into the air. Akane followed after her. As Akane prepared her next assault, Cologne went on the offensive, lashing out with a blur of staff strikes. Akane went defensive, attempting to pull back, but found herself strangely unable to do so, as if leashed around the waist. Failing at that, she did her best to diffuse the blows.

A second later, Cologne landed on the ground, while Akane toppled over on her landing. She quickly rolled away and back to her feet, but Cologne had resumed her original stance. 'Not as fast as Shampoo or Soon Li, but fast enough. Hits a ton harder too,' Akane thought, holding her ribs for a moment.

"You can still surrender. I'll make your death quick," Cologne said calmly.

Akane resumed her battle stance. "I'm nowhere near done!" she declared, once more rushing in for another barrage of punches with some kicks mixed in. Try as she might, though, Cologne blocked them all. After a second, Cologne tapped the ground at Akane's feet and hopped back. Instantly, the ground exploded upward, sending Akane into the air, pelted by sharp debris.

"Damn it!" Ranma cursed as Akane hit the ground in pain, her gi torn and bloody in several spots. "That ghoul is too damn good. Akane can't get anything through."

"Come on, Akane, you can do this!" Ryoga called out.

Akane struggled back to her feet, assessing her situation. 'Lots of cuts, but nothing serious,' she concluded. 'Soon Li was right, skill and ability, I'm badly outmatched. The only reason I'm still breathing is she's messing around, or maybe being excessively cautious.'

"I must say, I am disappointed. I suppose, it shouldn't be surprising given your training partner," Cologne said.

Akane's teeth clenched and anger started to take hold, but a call from the sidelines got her attention. "She's just trying to make you mad, ignore her," Ranma called out.

Akane took in and let out a deep breath to restore some of her own calm. 'Alright... new ways to use them huh...' that thought playing on Akane's mind, an idea came to her. As she rushed in for another attack, Akane extended her hands behind her at just a few paces and let loose another blast of air. Acting as a jet, it propelled her forward, and she quickly used the extra momentum to direct a flying kick at Cologne.

Somewhat to Akane's satisfaction, Cologne was momentarily surprised, reacting slower than usual, but still had sufficient time to deflect Akane's attack away, and counter with a staff strike to Akane's chest as she passed by. Akane endured the pain of the hit and quickly lashed out once more with her wind, this time directed at the elder at point blank. Again Cologne reacted slowly, but even that close she managed to dodge clear into the air.

Akane was not through though. Landing, she quickly spun and fired off a tornado at her airborne opponent. To Akane's immense satisfaction, this final assault hit true, Cologne unable to dodge in the air. However, Akane's pleasure was short lived as mere seconds later Cologne leaped out the top of the tornado and clear of it.

Akane groaned, wincing at the pain in her chest as Cologne reset her stance once again. "Well done, you do have potential after all. Using your Gust wave punch in that manner... clever."

"Just a little something I picked up from doing some ice skating," Akane replied as she gathered her strength.

"Hmm, unfortunately, this isn't training," the elder said. "It is time I show you what a true warrior is capable of." With that, Cologne's aura flared and all around her, rocks and debris began to levitate into the air.

"I think the old lady is getting serious," Ukyo said tensely, she and the others shocked by the display of power.

Akane was no less stunned, but shook it off and took a defensive stance. Cologne pointed her staff forward at Akane and with it, the floating objects flew forward. Akane responded by blasting forward with another wind punch, deflecting some of the objects. The rest she was forced to dodge frantically. She did well, most dodged, most the rest deflected away by her layer of air over her body but finally one particular stone caught her in the shoulder, breaching her defense, it's sharp edge tearing off her gi's sleeve, and leaving a gash in Akane's flesh.

Akane covered the wound and grit her teeth with the pain.

"Impressive," Cologne congratulated as her aura continued to glow. "Your wind armor is well developed, but not quite perfect. However, how does it fair against something like this?" she asked, once more pointing her staff forward. This time a ball of energy formed at the end of the staff and fired off at Akane. Akane rolled away from the blast.

'I got to keep her close,' Akane realized as Cologne fired off another blast. Akane dodged this one as well, and rushed in, firing off a barrage of wind punches as she did. As with most the others, they deflected harmlessly off Cologne's barrier, but did cause the elder to hold up her attack for a moment, giving Akane the chance to close in. Once in range, Akane stretched out her arms, summoning the winds around her and going into a spin.

Unfortunately, the winds seemed to have little effect on the elder. As if rooted to the ground, Cologne was unmoved by the attack. 'Damn it!' Akane cursed, dispelling her attack and diving down on Cologne with a kick. This was easily countered, Cologne striking Akane on the knee, nearly causing her to collapse on landing. However, determined, Akane ignored the pain and pressed her attack. Coating her attacks with wind, she continued her assault. Even with this, though, Cologne deflected them away, but did drop back several steps.

Akane forced herself fully back to her feet and continued to push, but Cologne quickly countered. A blur of punches came from the elder, penetrating Akane's defense and sending her stumbling back in pain. Cologne pressed her advantage, firing yet another blast of energy out, this one hitting true.

Struck in the chest, Akane flew backwards, the air knocked from her lungs and her chest seemingly on fire. 'Feels like a thunderclap punch,' she thought through the pain. 'Can't let her get range on me,' she realized and reached out before drawing in the air.

Cologne was caught off guard, the air around her rapidly blowing her back towards her opponent. She was quick to recover though, and met Akane in the air for another exchange of blows. More wind enhanced attacks met blurs of punches. Akane took several more hits, but finally several of her own got through as well.

Emboldened by this, Akane flared with power, and pressed on as they landed. Increasing the power of her winds to their maximum, she continued her attack, Cologne giving more and more ground, and shifting to the defensive. 'I can do this!' Akane thought with renewed hope.

Most those watching were likewise hopeful at the shift in the battle. However, there were two noticeable standouts. Soon Li and Ranma both had picked up on something the others had missed. 'Why is she tracing a spiral?' Ranma wondered. 'Something is not right,' he thought tensely.

"I'm most impressed. I haven't had a work out like this in nearly a century," Cologne said with a bit of a smile.

"Glad to hear it!" Akane replied, lashing out with another tornado.

"Unfortunately, you are not the only one who can wield the wind," the elder said to Akane's confusion. Rather than evade the oncoming tornado, Cologne spun her staff and thrust it forward. As she did, Akane felt an uplifting in the air around her. Sensitive to the air patterns as she was, the inevitable outcome became obvious. 'Damn it!' Akane mentally cursed as all around her the air spun into the sky, her own tornado of earlier absorbed into one vastly larger.

Those outside the affect quickly retreated, the powerful winds buffeting them even outside.

"AKANE!" Ryoga called out desperately.

"DON'T GIVE UP!" Ranma likewise called out.

Within the tornado, Akane had already been swept uncontrollably high into the air. Debris was lashing at her from all directions, and her only protection, the layer of dense air armor around her, was being quickly drained away. 'How did she...?' she thought in confusion.

From the center of the storm, on the ground below, Cologne called up, "Give up. This technique uses your own energy against you. Anything you try to use will just make it stronger."

'My own energy?' Akane echoed in her mind, starting to see the logic of the technique. 'How the hell do I defeat this?!' she thought desperately as her defenses continued to rapidly weaken. Desperate, she fired off several blasts of wind, but they did little, simply being absorbed into the surrounding maelstrom. 'She's right, all I'm doing is making this thing stronger,' she realized, despair starting to creep in. 'Damn it! Is there nothing I can do? Has it all been useless?'

As hopelessness nearly set in, Akane thought back. 'Remember why I am doing this,' she echoed Soon Li's words. 'Fine, if that is the way it is going to be,' she thought with hardened determination and looked down. "Like you said, ghoul, you are not the only one who can wield the wind," Akane called out and reached forward.

Below, Cologne felt the shift of the air once again around her, drawing her up. Cologne braced herself, but above Akane began to let herself spin with the tornado, and the elder soon found its winds now drawing her up as well. Finally, she was torn from the ground and pulled into the sky.

"What do you hope to accomplish with this?" Cologne asked as they neared each other.

"I figure I can maybe double, even triple this thing's power," Akane replied. "I bet even you can't take that much."

"You'll be trapped as well," Cologne replied then frowned. "You mean to kill us both."

"At least then Shampoo will be cured!" Akane replied, grabbing Cologne as she came close enough. "And you're not getting away."

Cologne did not struggle. Instead, she merely gave a slight grin.

From outside the tornado, Soon Li had been forced to erect a wind barrier of her own to shield the others as it had grown far more powerful. "There is too much energy," she called out over the howl of the winds.

"What?" Ranma called back. "What's that mean?"

"Tornados normally grow larger as they get more energy. This one is spinning ever tighter," Soon Li explained. "Akane must be..." she thought aloud, looking up.

As they watched the tornado continued to increase in power and contract. "Akane!" Ryoga and Ranma called out just as the tornado seemed to be ready to collapse in on itself. At that instant, it exploded. "AKANE!" the boys once more called out.

From the sky they could see at first a single object ejected from the explosion, but it soon split in two, revealing it to be Akane and Cologne. Both fell lifeless towards the ground, Ranma and Ryoga already running to intercept the descending Akane.

XXXXX

Blurry recollections. The sky. The ground coming up. Had to stop. People. Voices. Darkness. More voices. A bright light. More darkness. Finally, Akane opened her eyes slowly to find herself in an unfamiliar bed.

"I think she's awake," Soon Li said. "Akane?"

"Uh... where am I?" Akane asked, looking around to see her family, Ranma, with Shampoo in his arm, and Genma and Ryoga gathered around.

"Oh, Akane, don't worry your father like that!" Soun said through a bout of tears.

"You're at Dr. Tofu's clinic," Soon Li said.

"What happened?" Akane asked, trying to sit up.

"You tell us," Ranma said with a frown. "That whole crazy tornado thing blew up with you both still in it. You were lucky to make it out alive."

Akane looked down at herself, seeing much of her limbs wrapped in bandages. "I... did I win?" Akane asked.

Soon Li closed her eyes. "It isn't exactly a normal victory, but you apparently still had enough sense left to slow your fall. Cologne was, on the other hand, completely unconscious. For me, that says you won."

"And is she going to see it that way?" Nabiki asked with a frown.

"Let's just say, she had better," Soon Li replied. "She's in no condition to argue with me."

"I thought I was dead for sure. Sorry to worry you all," Akane said after a moment.

Soun broke into a fresh set of tears, although happy ones. "You just rest up Akane. You've done enough for today."

"What about..." Akane started to ask, but Soon Li waved Akane off.

"Cologne is still out. We have to wait till she recovers to get the bracelet. You just rest up till then," Soon Li advised.

"Alright," Akane reluctantly replied.

"Come on, we should leave her be," Soon Li advised, gesturing to the door and beginning to lead the others out. Shampoo, however, jumped out of Ranma's arms and onto Akane's bed, meowing at her.

Akane smiled weakly at the transformed girl. "Wait until you're human, then we'll talk."

Shampoo looked down, seemingly remembering her current state, then nodded before jumping to the ground and following the others.

Ryoga, unlike the others, lingered. "Akane?" He asked, taking a hold of one of Akane's hand.

"I'll be fine Ryoga, don't worry," Akane assured him.

"I'll watch over you night and day until you're on your feet," he said adamantly.

Akane weakly laugh. "I'm not that bad, but it is sweet of you to offer."

Soon Li returned to the room for a moment. "You coming, Ryoga?" she asked.

"Ahh-" he replied hesitantly.

"Is it okay if he stays?" Akane asked.

Soon Li smiled. "If you want. But, get some sleep"

Akane nodded, prompting Soon Li to head back out. Ryoga took a nearby seat, while Akane let fatigue take over.

XXXXX

Late that evening, Soon Li paced up the hall at the doctor's clinic for possibly the hundredth time. In one of the free rooms, most the others were gathered, discussing matters.

"So, it will work?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, in fact I found mention of a situation almost identical to Shampoo's. Both people should end up, in effect, with the original curse," Mousse replied. "It's just a matter of deciding who will do it."

Soon Li frowned. 'That's the question now, isn't it,' she thought, noticing Perfume exit Cologne's room. "Is she awake?"

Perfume responded by showing Soon Li the bracelet of dragons. "She give to me. No even argue," the young Amazon responded, handing the bracelet over. "Shampoo be better now?" she asked.

"Let's hope," Soon Li replied.

"I still no understand why she so stubborn," Perfume said, looking back at the elder's room.

"Me neither, but that definitely wasn't Cologne's best," Soon Li said, surprising Perfume. "I wouldn't read much into it. Maybe she just underestimated Akane." With that, the two Amazons turned and entered the room where the others were gathered. "We have it," she said, handing the bracelet off to an eager Mousse.

The Amazon male took out the matching falcon bracelet and compared them. "There is no doubt, this is definitely it," he concluded, touching the two together. "That vibration... definitely. To think Cologne had one all this time. I was searching for years..."

"Then let's not wait any longer. Shampoo's has been stuck in that form long enough," Ranma said.

"Right, and I should do it. I got her cursed in the first place," Mousse replied.

"No, it's a father's duty to his child, adopted or not. I shall do it," Soun said.

"Hey, she's my fiancee. I'll do it," Ranma interjected, not to be outdone.

"We don't need multiple people," Mousse said in annoyance. "Besides, you have a curse already. No telling how it will react."

"And there is also the matter of your phobia," Soon Li pointed out.

At that moment, two more entered the room, getting everyone's attention. "I should be the one," Akane said as Ryoga helped her in.

"Akane, you should be in bed still," Soun said.

"I'm fine," Akane said, but soon weakness forced her to sit on the room's bed where Shampoo was likewise sitting. "I know Shampoo's curse the best of any of us, it should be me."

"Akane..." Ryoga said, before growing determined himself. "No, I should do it. Shampoo's and my curse aren't that different."

"But, like Ranma, we don't know how the two curses will interact," Kasumi pointed out. "Perhaps I could-"

"Kasumi, I think we have enough volunteers," Nabiki pointed out.

Soon Li sighed and nodded. "Nabiki is right. I know we all want to help Shampoo, but this is just complicating things."

"That's why I should do it," Mousse insisted.

A chuckle caught everyone's attention, prompting them to turn once again to the doorway. There, leaning on her staff was Cologne. "What do you want?" Akane asked in annoyance.

"Perhaps to save you all some trouble," Cologne replied evenly. "There is only one of you capable of doing it."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

"It is all in the name," Cologne answered evasively.

This was enough for Mousse to clue in though, and he quickly pulled out a booklet and began going through it.

"What's that?" Ranma asked.

"The translation of the... damn..." Mousse replied as he found what he was looking for. However, after a second, he turned back to Cologne. "I could still do it."

"Could you?" Cologne asked.

Mousse tensed, then hung his head.

"What is it?" Soon Li asked.

Mousse shook his head then looked up. "Most the bracelet enchantments are reserved to work between true friends, including this one."

"So it has to be me then," Akane concluded, gaining everyone's attention. "That's fine, I wanted to do it anyway," she quickly added.

"Akane, do you have any idea..." Soun started to say, but looking at Shampoo, he stopped himself and frowned. "It is not fair."

"Shampoo has lived with that curse for nearly ten years. I'll manage," Akane assured her father.

"Akane!" Ryoga said suddenly.

"Ryoga, I'll be-"

"No, I..." he said hesitantly. "I just want to say... Akane, no matters what happens I'll still..." he started, growing increasingly nervous. "Uh, uh, lo...o...v..." he continued, but then finally collected himself and clearly statement, "love you."

The declaration made Akane the focus of everyone's attention, prompting her to blush. "Uh... thank you," she said, shying away. After several cleared throats and stifled chuckles, Akane looked back at the others. "Okay, okay, let's just get this over with. Shampoo has been stuck that way over day already."

"Right," Mousse said, and with no arguments from anyone else, handing the dragon bracelet to Akane, and placing the other next to Shampoo. "Okay, each of you first have to take possession of one of the bracelets."

Shampoo responded by placing her paw on the bracelet.

"Now what?" Akane asked.

"Now exchange them," Mousse prompted.

Akane frowned slightly, but obediently placed her bracelet down in front of Shampoo who pushed hers towards Akane. Both accepting the other's bracelet, Mousse looked back at this notes. "Okay, now, both of you touch both yours and the other's bracelet."

"You sure about this?" Ranma asked, getting an annoyed look from Mousse.

"Yes, I'm sure," Mousse replied and Akane lowered her bracelet back to the bed allowing Shampoo to touch it as well as the other, likewise placing her free hand on Shampoo's bracelet. "Now, both of you, will the division of the curse to occur. Remember to will it to be a split back to the original curse."

"Alright," Akane replied, giving Shampoo a smile. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Akane began to ask, "How will..." In response, the bracelets began to glow, softly at first, but quickly growing in intensity until it was nearly blinding. Then, suddenly the glow disappeared, leaving the bracelets slightly dulled in their original shimmer.

"It's done," Mousse declared.

"But nothing happened," Ranma said in a bit of a panic.

"It did, but it is just like the original curse now. Get some hot water," Mousse directed.

"And a blanket too," Soon Li directed as Kasumi was already at the door. As Kasumi headed out, Soon Li noticed Cologne had already departed.

After a minute, Kasumi returned with a kettle, a blanket, and a glass of water. Akane accepted the kettle and blanket, draped the blanket over Shampoo and poured the hot water within the kettle over the transformed girl. The effect was instant, returning Shampoo to her human form. Shampoo looked down at her human hands, and quickly grew teary eyed at the sight. In a burst of joy, she hugged Akane.

"Shampoo is back to human!" the Amazon cheered.

Shampoo's joy was soon joined by the others who offered their congratulations, but after only a few moments, Shampoo withdrew from Akane, looking at her friend with a pained look.

"Akane..." Shampoo said quietly.

Akane weakly smiled, now noticing the glass of water Kasumi was holding. With a sigh, she accepted it. "Well, might as well find out what I look like," Akane said, and after an instant of hesitation, up ended the glass over herself.

Like with Shampoo, the effect was immediate, and Akane disappeared into a pile of her own clothes. Shampoo quickly moved aside the clothes, allowing the cat within to come out. The gray and black striped cat gave a cat like sigh.

XXXXX

The next day, Akane entered the Nekohanten followed by Shampoo. "**I still say we should tell them,**" Akane said.

Just behind her, Shampoo frowned. "**Don't you think they will think we are... weird?**" Shampoo thought.

"**They already think we're weird,**" Akane replied with a smile.

In the kitchen, Soon Li looked out at the two girls. "Akane, you're not thinking about working today?" she asked with a frown.

"I'm fine," Akane complained, but shook her head. "But, no. Just coming by to get a quick snack. Cologne isn't..."

"She is in her room, still recovering," Soon Li replied. "Which is what you should be doing," she admonished.

"Being stuck in my room all the time is boring," Akane complained.

Soon Li frowned once more, but dropped the matter. Taking that as an okay, Shampoo and Akane took a booth seat.

"**If you really don't want to, we can keep it quiet for now. I just think we should tell them,**" Akane said. "**Sure it is weird, but I'm sure Sayuri, Yuka and the others will understand. It is going to be a lot harder to keep it quiet now that we both have the curse.**"

Shampoo sighed. "**Maybe, let me think on it,**" she replied. "**Do you regret it?**"

"**Taking this curse? No! I mean, it is unusual, no question about that, but I'll manage,**" Akane assured her.

"**You risked alot challenging Cologne. I would never have let you do that,**" Shampoo said with a frown.

"**You weren't in any position to protest. Besides, everything worked out fine,**" Akane said with a smile before growing thoughtful. "**I am a little confused though.**"

"Hmh?"

"**In that last attack, she had me. To be honest, I couldn't see any way out of it. The only thing I could do was supercharge it and drag her into it with me. We should have both been killed!**" Akane said, gaining a frown from Shampoo. Noticing this, Akane smiled nervously. "**Obviously we didn't die,**" she pointed out, but this did not satisfy Shampoo.

Before any further disagreement could arise from this, Perfume came to the table to serve them. "**She might have let some of the energy in the tornado loose before the explosion,**" Perfume suggested.

"**Why would she do that?**" Shampoo asked.

"**Maybe she didn't want to die,**" Perfume answered.

Shampoo thought on this. "**Maybe.**"

"**Or, maybe she didn't want to win after all,**" Perfume suggested, to Shampoo's shock.

"**Do you really think-**" Shampoo started to ask.

"**Nah!**" Perfume quickly said. "**She probably just didn't want to die over something so stupid. Anyway, what do you two want?**"

Shampoo reluctantly nodded, and the pair gave their order. Perfume departed, leaving Shampoo looking at the table sadly.

"**Don't discount it yet, Shampoo. You might have a chance yet,**" Akane said, getting her friend to look back up at her. "**But don't get your hopes up too far.**"

Shampoo nodded.

XXXXX

Late that night, Akane returned to her room, yawning. Within, she stopped, seeing Shampoo already asleep on her bed. In the dim light of the room, she noticed the reflection of the golden bracelet on Shampoo's wrist.

Akane smiled, and looked at the partner bracelet on her own wrist. Their power now used up for approximately fifty years, they were little more than trinkets. Because of that, the two girls had taken to wearing them as such. Perhaps silly, but Akane could not help but see them as a bit of a symbol.

As Akane thought on that, looking at the bracelet, a strange sense of deja vu hit her. 'Strange,' she thought as she laid down on her bed. 'I feel like I've done this before,' she thought. 'We didn't have them on last night though,' she continued with a bit of a frown as the feeling persisted. However, finally, Akane shrugged, dismissing the concern.

With another yawn, crawled under her blankets, turned off the night light, and let herself drift off.

%End Chapter 12

Well, that's the first arc done, well essentially. Now things get interesting...

Now, next two chapters are shorter ones, both meant mostly as transitions. I don't think I should merge them, so I will probably leave them and just add a little bit.

A few things. I try to keep the world continuity of A Scary Thought and Most Unlikely of Friends consistent. This means, barring changes in the time lines, the worlds should be roughly the same. This saves me having to remember multiple continuities, and since this story is crossed with A Scary Thought, doesn't open up contradictions. However this did open the slight issue that in A Scary Thought magic and mages are pretty prevalent and in particular the Amazons have a fairly powerful archmage in their ranks. Originally the bracelets were the only potential cure, but with an archmage known and pretty easily contacted, that they didn't became an issue. Didn't mention said archmage here, but felt that I should at least mention that they did attempt to contact some magic users in hopes the spell could be broke more conventionally.

Beyond that, I tweaked the fight between Akane and Cologne a bit, added a little more reasoning behind the challenge, and also expanded Soon Li's advice to Akane. I also changed the rules for the bracelets to work a bit. In the original, Shampoo had a choice on who to do split the curse with, but that the others gave her such a hard choice felt off on fresh reading so that whole conversation got tweaked. Also added that last tiny scene because I realized I completely missed a transition scene. I sort of explained it later, but an actual scene felt better.


	14. Chapter 13

%Chapter 13

Akane awoke slowly, a foggy vision of a figure of light soon fading into the mists of forgotten memories. However, this was replaced with another light. She tried to squeeze her already closed eyelids even tighter as the annoying light shined. Finally, the irritation at this compelled her to respond and she opened her eyes to see what it was. 'Don't tell me it is morning already,' she thought as she looked around her room, looking for the source of the light. However, it was still dark outside, her bedroom door was closed, and the light was off.

Her mind still foggy it took a second to recompute and simply trace the light to its source and that was her wrist. On her wrist the bracelet she had put on was glowing, although as she watched it was already dimming rapidly.

"What the..." Akane mumbled. "Shampoo, did you..." she started to ask, looking to where she expected to see Shampoo's bed, but instead found nothing, neither Shampoo, nor even a bed. Akane continued to stare at the empty place for a moment, confused.

At that time, she was not sure what was real and what was not. It took another minute until it started to become clear and with that she once more looked to the bracelet. "A dream?" she mumbled in her continued confusion. "But, it was so..." At that moment she realized she was still wearing the bracelet and quickly moved to take it off, placing it on her desk. After staring at it a minute longer to ensure it was not up to no good, Akane laid back down, continuing to eye the piece of jewelry cautiously.

XXXXX

The whole world was seeming surreal to Akane. It was all normal of course. She got up, went for a morning jog, had breakfast, went to school with Ranma... nothing unusual, yet all seemed completely wrong. She knew why of course. The dream was still vividly in her mind.

It was like no dream she had ever experienced. Some parts, like most dreams, had faded away. Others, though, remained as clear as any memory she had of the real world. Even now, sitting in class, Akane kept expecting to see Shampoo sitting in her seat as usual. 'But that's not usual at all,' Akane thought. 'Shampoo doesn't even go to school.'

'I wonder if she had the dream too?' Akane thought, turning to look out the window.

"Miss Tendo, are you paying attention?" the seemingly young Ms. Hinako asked at the front of the class with a childlike frown of annoyance.

"Uh, what?" Akane blurt out in a mix of embarrassment and nervousness, realizing she had indeed been zoning out. "Sorry," she quickly apologized.

Ms. Hinako huffed, but let the matter slide for a change and returned to her teaching.

In his own seat in the classroom, Ranma relaxed, having worried that he just might have to rush to Akane's aid as their teacher had a nasty habit of taking such inattention more seriously. However, even with the immediate danger passed, he eyed his fiancee curiously, her eyes already beginning to drift to the window once more.

XXXXX

The school day coming to an end, Ranma retrieved his normal shoes from his locker before noticing Akane walking towards the exit, once more lost in thought. Frowning, Ranma hurried up next to her.

"You're not still mad about yesterday, are you?" Ranma asked as he walked along side Akane.

Akane looked over at him in confusion. "Yesterday?"

Ranma looked away, hiding his nervousness. "You know... the thing... the pond..."

"Huh?"

"That... omlette thing you made," he finally said, nervously peeking back to judge her reaction. To his surprise, it was not anger, but simple realization.

"Oh... that... that feels like a lifetime ago," Akane replied.

"Huh?" this time Ranma said in confusion.

"It's nothing," Akane said dismissively. "Uh... I got to go somewhere. I'll be back home later," she said suddenly and started to rush off.

"Hey, I'll go with you," Ranma said, almost instantly regretted how that sounded.

"No, you go on home," Akane replied, apparently oblivious to Ranma's concern.

Ranma frowned, but gave no pursuit. 'What is up with her?' Shaking his head at the lack of an answer, he reluctantly headed on home.

XXXXX

'It was here, I know it. What happened?' Akane thought as she looked into the window of a now deserted shop that the day before had been a jewelry store. 'This wasn't part of the dream... what happened?!' Akane repeated with a confused shake of her head.

Seeing no clues within, she looked around to see a store owner across the street adjusting his store sign. Walking over, Akane spoke to him. "Um, excuse me, but what happened to the jewelry store that was across the street yesterday?"

The man looked over to where Akane was gesturing, but looked puzzled. "Jewelry store? Uh, sorry but that place has been vacant for weeks. Sure you got the right place?"

Akane looked back. "I'm positive."

"There is a jewelry store several blocks up. Sure that's not the one you are thinking about?" he suggested.

Akane shook her head. "No, this was a new one," Akane replied, then grew nervous and smiled at the man. "Maybe I did get mixed up."

"Sorry I couldn't be any help," he replied with a reassuring smile before heading inside.

Akane sighed. 'Maybe I dreamed that too. But, if I did, where'd I get the bracelet?" she thought, then let out a chuckle as she turned back to the vacant store. 'Don't get ahead of yourself, Akane. You may have dreamed up the bracelet too. Maybe when I get home I'll find I never had it.' Akane shook her head and was about to head home when she spotted something that reassured her of her own sanity, namely Shampoo doing as Akane had been not a minute earlier, looking into the empty store, perplexed.

As if sensing Akane's eyes on her, Shampoo, her hair once more long, turned to her, betraying a second of shock. Quickly though, she turned away and started walking off.

"Shampoo, wait!" Akane called after her, rushing to catch up.

"What you want?" Shampoo replied over her shoulder, but continued her walk.

"You had the dream too, didn't you?!" Akane said, finally getting ahead of the Amazon and forcing her to stop, but she avoided looking at her.

"Dream? No know what you talk about," Shampoo denied.

Akane frowned. "Oh come on! Then why are you here?" she asked with some annoyance.

Shampoo hesitated before answering. "Shampoo just come return bracelet."

"Why?"

Again Shampoo hesitated. "Shampoo no think deserve it."

Akane glared at Shampoo in frustration. "Look, I know something happened. Did you have a dream or didn't you?" she demanded, leaning to the side to look Shampoo straight in the eye.

Once more, uncharacteristically nervous, averted her eyes. "Shampoo no have dream."

"You're not convincing me," Akane shot back.

"Even if did, what matter? Nothing changed," Shampoo responded, finally pushing by Akane and continuing on her way.

Akane tensed, but let Shampoo go, merely calling after her, "It matters to me!" However, Shampoo did not reply, and continued on. When she finally left sight, Akane let out a disappointed sigh and headed off herself..

XXXXX

The following day, Akane was in her room, at her desk, to most appearances doing homework. In fact, she had not touched the books, and at that particular moment was maneuvering the end of a pencil with her mouth in order bounce the other end against her nose. This pointless tiny game had been preoccupying her for nearly 10 minutes as thoughts other than school work continued to plague her.

'I don't care what she said, she definitely had the dream. Why else would she be there and act like that?' Akane thought, her eyes briefly darting down to the drawer where her bracelet was currently stored. 'Of course, this still doesn't explain how we got the darn things.'

Despite her worry of the previous day that she would return home to find it missing, it was still there, but it presented no answers. Akane had since kept it stowed away, not sure what to do with it, or what exactly it had done.

Snatching the pencil out of her mouth, Akane sighed and looked down at her homework once again. 'Maybe she's right. Maybe it doesn't change a thing.' Dissatisfied with her own thoughts, Akane frowned and with sudden determination grabbed a loose piece of paper, and put the pencil to it. There she stopped, looking up, struggling to find the words. Nearly another minute, and after several approaches were mentally discarded, Akane finally looked back down at the paper, and wrote a single line. After reading it over and being satisfied, she folded the piece of paper over, found an envelope in her drawer, and sealed the paper within. Finally she wrote Shampoo's name on the envelope.

With one final nod, Akane set the envelope aside along with her concerns for the time being.

XXXXX

The next day, just after school hours, Cologne was taking a break as Mousse was taking payment from the last of the customers. Using one of the free tables, Cologne sat down and took a long puff from her pipe before noticing Akane enter.

Akane paused as she entered, looking at Mousse, before shaking her head in apparent dismissal of whatever thought she had. Mousse adjusted his glasses, wondering at Akane's odd behavior, but a brief glare from Cologne was enough to prompt him to get back to work bussing tables.

As Mousse went about his work, Akane approached the elder Amazon. "So what do we owe this visit to, Akane Tendo? If you're looking for Son-in-law, he's not here," Cologne greeted.

"Uh, no..." Akane began, looking around the room nervously.

After giving Akane a moment to collect herself, but apparently failing, Cologne prodded her verbally. "Speak child!"

Akane tensed, but looked back at Cologne. "Do you know a woman named Soon Li?"

This time it was Cologne's turn to become tense with surprise. "How do you know of her?"

"Uh... she's an Amazon, right, your daughter by adoption?" Akane asked, ignoring Cologne's question.

"That is correct," Cologne replied, quite puzzled.

"About my dad's age, long brown hair..."

"Yes," Cologne answered.

"Knows this powerful style, Storm style, with two schools, Lightning and Wind?"

Cologne nodded. "You still haven't told me how you learned of her?"

"Uh... I think Shampoo or Mousse mentioned her once," Akane replied evasively. "I just had this weird dream and she was sort of in it... Just got me thinking, is she still there... at the village I mean?"

"No. She left some nine years ago, right after winning a tournament. I haven't heard from her since," Cologne replied.

"Oh yeah, guess she would have..." Akane replied before noticing the even more perplexed look she was getting from Cologne. "It was a weird dream," Akane reiterated.

"Indeed," Cologne said with a slow nod. "Anything else?"

"How about Perfume?"

"There are two Perfumes at the village. Were you told about her as well?" Cologne asked.

"Uh, maybe, I'm not sure which one is which though. The one I was thinking of was also brown haired and-"

"That would be Pur Fum, an unfortunate embarrassment to the village," Cologne said looking to the side briefly before refocusing on Akane who seemed puzzled. "Not as you expected?"

"Uh... no, not exactly."

"Perhaps you have the two confused. The other is quite the warrior, but she has pink hair, and a bit of a scar."

"Maybe," Akane conceded

"Is there anything else about this dream you wish to ask about?" Cologne asked.

"Well... no, not really," Akane answered before turning away, but quickly stopped. "Where's Shampoo?"

"Out on delivery," Cologne replied.

Akane hesitated, but finally drew out the sealed envelope she made the previous night. "Could you give this to her?"

Cologne accepted the letter and looked it over curiously. "Is this some sort of letter of challenge?" she asked.

"No," Akane quickly replied with a shake of her head. "It's private," she added.

Cologne shrugged. "Very well, I will give it to her when she returns."

"Thanks. I should go," Akane said and quickly did just that.

As the youngest Tendo left, Cologne frowned, once more looking over the letter. "You can come out now, she's gone. No need to hide any longer," Cologne said absently.

In response Shampoo pushed open the door to the kitchen which she had been concealed behind. "Shampoo was no-"

"Don't try to deceive me. I know something has happened between you two. You've been distracted for days," Cologne said, looking back at her great granddaughter. "I assume this... dream has something to do with it?"

Shampoo looked to the floor but nodded.

"So, was it you that told her of Soon Li and Perfume?" Cologne asked

"May have," Shampoo replied.

Cologne examined the younger Amazon, but finally seemed to drop the matter and hopped over to her, handing the letter over. "Well, I trust you to resolve this matter, whatever it is, by yourself. I do, however, expect an explanation."

Shampoo nodded and accepted the letter from Cologne. Cologne continued on into the kitchen, but watched over her shoulder as Shampoo opened the letter, read it, frowned, then promptly crumbled it up and tossed it into a nearby waste bucket. After Cologne prepared the next delivery and handed it over, the young Amazon quickly left the restaurant. Curious, Cologne retrieved the letter and looked it over, seeing but one line with a date, time, place and the simple request, please come.

"Hmh," Cologne murmured, tossing the letter back into the waste bin. 'Interesting. Just how did Akane Tendo know the names of Soon Li's styles? Shampoo doesn't even know that. Only myself and the other council members should know their names,' she thought. She frowned briefly in consideration of the little mystery but finally put those thoughts aside when another customer entered.

XXXXX

Some days later, Ranma was in the dojo, reading a book, or at least that was what he appeared to be doing. In Akane's firm opinion, he was mocking her, as he now was standing over her, one foot lightly pressed on the small of her back, pinning her to the floor. Needless to say, she was fuming.

"What's got you so uppity today?" Ranma asked as he went to the next page.

"Shut up, Ranma, and get off of me!" Akane yelled in frustration. Obediently, Ranma released her and backed off, still reading. Infuriated, Akane rolled to a sitting position and glared at him.

"What, you are the one that asked to fight me," Ranma pointed out.

"You could at least take it seriously!" Akane complained.

"If I took it seriously you'd stand even less of a chance," Ranma calmly replied, prompting Akane to growl with increasing anger.

Akane balled her fists in barely controlled rage, but finally let it go. 'He's right, this is useless. Nothing from the dream carried over at all,' she thought, hanging her head in disappointment. "You're a terrible sparring partner," Akane mumbled as she got to her feet.

"This is sparring?" Ranma asked, causing Akane to glare at him once more.

Akane considered a verbal retaliation, but soon dropped this too, instead heading for the door. "I'm done. Besides, nearly time for me to go."

"Where you off to now?" Ranma asked, putting his book away and following.

"None of your business, now buzz off. I'm taking a bath before I go," Akane replied. Behind her Ranma frowned.

'That's the third time she's gone off on her own in the last while and won't tell me where or why,' he pondered. 'What is she doing? And she's been acting kinda odd lately too.' Continuing to frown in consideration of this, he headed to the common room and waited. About a half hour later, Akane called out her departure, and Ranma set to work, jumping to the rooftop and watching her, discretely following from above and out of sight.

XXXXX

Ranma's pursuit came to an end when Akane entered one of the local shops, one he recognized that served ice cream sundaes that he tended to favor. Across the street, he stopped and watched as Akane sat inside at a window side booth and waited.

'Guess she's meeting someone, but who?' Ranma thought and sat down on the rooftop to wait himself.

Inside Akane looked at the wall clock and started drumming her fingers on the table top. 'She's probably not going to come,' she thought as the minutes ticked away. 'Well, I kept my promise and tried, that's all there is to it. If she...' Akane continued but was cut short with the sound of a bike bell. She looked outside just in time to see Shampoo go by on her bike, stopping at the door. There the Amazon looked around, and seeing Akane paused. This continued for a moment until Shampoo set aside her bike and headed inside.

Once in, she looked at the owner, who glared back at her. The strange exchange puzzled Akane for a moment till she realized that by coincidence she had chosen the same place to meet Shampoo as she had first encountered her. No doubt the owner was still unamused about having to fix his wall. However, in the end he said nothing, merely huffing and letting Shampoo go by.

Shampoo turned to Akane and walked over, sitting down opposite her in the booth, but kept her head low. Outside, Ranma found this all very puzzling and was watching intently.

"Uh, sorry, forgot about that," Akane said.

"Is fine. Great grandmother pay for damages months ago," Shampoo said.

"Oh," Akane said before switching topics. "I... half expected you not to come."

Shampoo looked briefly to the window, then down once more at the table top before admitting, "Shampoo... Shampoo had to. Was feeling... lonely."

"Then you did have the dream," Akane concluded and Shampoo nodded. "Was it the same one... I mean, with you being adopted by Dad and living with us?"

"Yes," Shampoo replied. After a moment of silence between them, Shampoo said, "Shampoo no know what do now."

"I sort of feel the same way," Akane said with a nod.

"How much of dream do remember?" Shampoo asked.

"Bits and pieces mostly. I can't remember a thing of Mandarin, or how to do those wind tricks. I even got angry at Ryoga for some reason, but I can't remember why anymore," Akane answered with a frown.

Shampoo once more looked to the side. "Shampoo have same problem," she said after a moment. "You no change..."

"No. No curse," Akane said with a weak smile.

Shampoo nodded. "Thought so, but is good know," she said. "Is... is what happen before Shampoo come..." she started to ask, unsure of the words.

"You mean, like how we met Ranma and Kuno and such? Yeah, it was all very similar. It was actually me who was supposed to fight Kodachi, but I twisted my ankle so Ranma ended up doing it. And rather than you, Azusa took P-chan, my pet pig," Akane explained. Shampoo nodded. "And, how about back at the village, with Soon Li and Perfume?"

"Soon Li win tournament that have in dream, then leave. Perfume, she real, but much different now, but was same then," Shampoo answered. "Is all very strange."

"Yeah," Akane agreed. Another minute passed in silence between them before Akane spoke once more. "Shampoo, look, I know we have our differences, alot of differences, but can't we at least try to put them aside and regain something of what we had there."

Shampoo finally looked up at Akane in consideration. "Shampoo no know if possible. Shampoo have new feelings but old feelings still there." Akane looked down at the table in disappointment, but Shampoo continued on. "But if Akane can try..." she said, prompting Akane to look back up. "Shampoo can too. Is promise after all."

Outside, Ranma continued to watch this, although he could not hear the words between them. However, he did note the slow but steady shift in the mood between them, going from uneasy to familiar. As he continued to watch, the two became more easy going and talked more, and even began laughing together.

'Them?! Talking?! Laughing?! Together?! I must be dreaming,' he thought. 'I don't get it, but seems okay,' he concluded and after watching another few minutes decided he was simply wasting his time there. With a shake of his head and a bit of smile he headed off, never noticing another figure watching the pair from afar.

"Well, I told you I could do it," the jewelry store owner said.

"Yes, you proved me wrong, but will it last?" a female voice responded seemingly from nowhere.

"Maybe. One can always hope."

"Yes, I suppose so," the voice agreed.

"How long till we have stability?" he asked.

"About 30 cycles," the female voice replied.

The man nodded. "Hm, till then, guess it's off to deal with other matters, but we'll definitely have to check in to ensure the patch worked." With that, the man faded from existence, leaving no hint that he was ever there.

%End Chapter 13

Okay, so here we are back, temporarily at least, in the original world. This is the original conclusion to the Most Unlikely of Friends plot. However, there is a fair bit more to come. We'll be sticking here for the next chapter as well, then back to the alternate universe, so just a heads up. From here on though, the original universe plays an increasing role in the plot.

Speaking of the next chapter, been looking over what I have to work with, and frankly I think I may end up throwing it entirely away. Still going to have the same general happenings, but what's there just doesn't work for me at all. I keep seeing so many modifications I can make that by the time I would be through pretty much every scene would be altered substantially and at that point I might as well just start clean. It was never meant to be anything more than a small blurb to justify a transition back so a full rewrite isn't exactly troubling me. We'll see I suppose. I might end up preserving more than I expect in the end.


	15. Chapter 14

%Chapter 14

In a large room, various holographic monitors displayed various bits of information all around, each flipping through hundreds of images each minutes, scanning. To oversee all this, a lone man sat in a chair, leaning back, snoring. Naturally, he was not doing much actual overseeing.

This man's nap was sharply interrupted when an alarm was set off, the various displays immediately shifting to one particular stream. With a start, the man sat up, and quickly wiped away a bit of drool.

"This better be good," he mumbled in irritation as he set to work analyzing the screens. After a minute, his annoyance was replaced with a frown. "Okay, that's good... or rather bad," he said. "Where's Derek?" In response to the question, one display shifted to a new stream. With a growl the man looked back at the other displays. "Just great, guess I'm up," he concluded and began inputting commands.

XXXXX

It was morning in Nerima, and Akane was jogging the last leg of her morning circuit around the block. It was her usual exercise that she had been doing for years. Since about a month ago, it seemed totally inadequate.

Lately she'd been extending the run, and speeding it up, but still, without a firm motivator, she found herself easing up. Today was another attempt to fight such, and she was pushing herself hard. Finally, fatigue caught up to her, and she paused at a street corner to lean over and brace herself against her knees as she caught her breath.

"Still slow," she mumbled through breaths and straightened up slightly, seeing an errant can on the street. Impulsively, she thrust her fist at the can, and to her shock a gust of wind starting rolling it down the street. However, any hope she might have gained from this was quickly quashed when she realized said wind was of the natural variety as the gust buffeted her from behind before easing. Akane stood up straight and chuckled at herself. "Yeah, it's not that easy," she said to herself and resumed her exercise.

Since the dream, life in Nerima had been fairly normal, which meant she had dealt with two dojo challengers, and just one kidnapping. Of course, as usual, Ranma had been there to save the day for every one of the incidents, and as usual, Akane ended up feeling like she was little more than the damsel in distress.

It was not that she could not appreciate the gestures from Ranma, or that she even could not admit to herself that she had needed the help. No, it was more that Ranma had a nasty habit of, intentionally or not, throwing it in her face. That, Ranma's persistent wishy-washy-ness with his would be fiancees, Akane's various unwanted lovers, and just the general of the craziness of Nerima, and somedays Akane had to wonder why she had not yet had a nervous breakdown.

With another chuckle and shake of her head at the thoughts, Akane rounded a corner. Her run was brought to a halt, though, at the site of a familiar piglet walking down the roadside. "P-chan!" Akane exclaimed happily, scooping her pet up off the street and giving him a hug. "Where you been?" she asked getting a squeal in response.

At that moment, a tingle of realization hit her, but frustratingly disappeared just as quickly as it came. Akane paused at this, wondering just what connection her mind had been trying to make but failed. 'Something about P-chan and the dream maybe? I can't even remember if P-chan was in the dream... bet that is it though,' she thought, quickly dismissing the matter and taking a more leisurely pace for the remaining distance to her home.

As she did, thoughts of the dream played on her, in particular Ryoga. 'I hadn't really given him much thought, have I?' she thought with a slight frown. 'You know, I bet he likes me in this here too. It certainly would explain a lot.'

She turned the final corner to her home thinking on this and as she did, she noticed a familiar face waiting. "Mousse!" she called out, prompting the male Amazon to adjust his glasses, confirm Akane's identity and wave. Stopping next to him, Akane asked, "What you doing here?"

"I finished with the translation," Mousse answered quickly, pulling out a large book and handing it over. "I tried to be as accurate as possible, but it should have everything."

"Great, thanks," Akane said as she accepted the book and looked over the first few pages. "You must have really worked hard on this."

"If you think it can get Shampoo out from that dumb law..." Mousse said, gaining a weak smile from Akane.

"No promises," Akane replied. "I don't suppose anything stood out?"

Mousse shook his head. "No," he replied in disappointment. "I thought maybe Shampoo could challenge the defeat, but that damn Ranma..." Mousse clenched his fists. "I just know he did this on purpose, to ensnare Shampoo!"

"Aah," Akane hesitantly said as Mousse's anger quickly rose to a boil.

"Just thinking about it... Damn him! Ranma!" Mousse yelled and rushed into the house.

Behind him, Akane raised her hand and opened her mouth in a useless attempt to stall the Amazon boy. However, as expected he was already out of range of any such effort. With a sigh, Akane proceeded inside. By the time she reached the front door she saw Mousse rocket into the sky, propelled obviously not of his own accord. An instant later, Ranma's yell of, "What the hell did I do?!" could be heard.

XXXXX

A few hours later, Ranma was wondering the streets of Nerima. Mousse's unexplained outburst of earlier in the day was largely forgotten, mostly due to irritation over P-chan once more having return. 'That stupid pig!' Ranma grumbled mentally as he walked in search of something to distract him. So far he had not been very successful.

His stomach finally growled. 'Bah, guess it is time for lunch,' he thought and taking in his surroundings quickly decided on a destination. A short walk later and he entered Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. "Hey Ucchan!" he greeted as he stepped inside.

"Ranchan!" Ukyo gushed and rushed over to the countertop that Ranma sat down at. "Here for lunch?"

"Oh yeah, that'd be great... if it's no trouble," Ranma replied with a smile.

"Of course not," Ukyo said and quickly set to work making a new okonomiyaki for her fiance.

With a moment to spare, Ranma relaxed, but soon found an uncomfortable feeling flowing over him. Tracing the cause, he looked across the room to the end of the grill counter to see a short brown haired girl glaring at him. Not recognizing her, but clearly sensing her dislike of him, he could only weakly smile, wave and say, "Ah, hi."

Ukyo looked up from her work to notice the situation. She frowned and looked to the girl, but the girl quickly turned to a more innocent look.

"Uh, who's the girl?" Ranma quietly asked.

"Don't know," Ukyo replied. "Those stupid street thugs were harassing her earlier."

"Them again? I thought Ms. Hinako got rid of them," Ranma said with a sigh.

"Apparently not. I drove them off, and ever since then she's been here. Problem is, she doesn't seem to know Japanese so I can't talk to her."

"Hmm," Ranma replied, looking back at the girl, who once again briefly glared at him before turning away. "Let me try something," he said and, raising his voice so the girl could hear, greeted, "Nihao!"

The girl turned back to him suspiciously, replying, "Nihao," as well, although with a certain coldness to it.

"She's from China?" Ukyo asked.

"Guess so," Ranma concluded. "You should call the Nekohanten. Sure someone there can translate for you."

Ukyo frowned, but reluctantly nodded. "Guess I got no choice."

XXXXX

About that time, back at the Tendo home, Akane sat at the common room table, reading through the book Mousse had delivered earlier, a slight frown on her face. Kasumi placed a tray with two cups down on the table and took a seat.

"Thanks, Kasumi," Akane said absently, taking one of the cups and drinking.

"What are you reading?" Kasumi asked as she took up the other cup.

"A complete translation of the unabridged Amazon rulebook," Akane answered.

"Oh?"

"The one we had was pretty vague and simple, so I had Mousse translate this one for me. I was hoping to find some way to get Ranma and Shampoo out of this legal mess," Akane explained.

Kasumi smiled. "That's very nice of you, Akane."

Akane frowned. "Not sure Shampoo would see it that way. Kinda think she might see it as me trying to undermine her claim."

"Are you?"

"Well, no," Akane replied.

"Then there is nothing to worry about," Kasumi replied with a smile. "I'm sure if you explain she will understand." Akane nodded. "Any luck?"

"Sorta, but not really," Akane responded, setting the book down. "I've found four ways an Amazon can nullify the marriage law."

"That's good."

"Not really. The first is for one party or the other to die," Akane said plainly.

"That's not very good," Kasumi replied with a slight bow of her head.

"No, obviously not. The second is to get special consideration from the Amazon council. That's sounds nice, but to get that sort of thing you have to do something huge for the village, like single handedly save the entire village from a rampaging horde," Akane explained, getting an understanding nod from Kasumi. "So, needless to say, that's seriously unlikely to happen."

"The third way might have worked, but probably not anymore and that is for Shampoo to challenge her defeat. She was actually not originally fighting Ranma, she was attacking me, so technically he sort of sneak attacked her, or we could perhaps argue we double teamed her, making it unfair. But, really, that was a long shot, and since he defeated her as a female at the village, and the dolt challenged her again when Shampoo was wearing that stupid jewel, any chance of that working is gone.

"The last is for Shampoo to step aside when Ranma is married to another Amazon."

Kasumi tapped her lip in confusion. "But you're not an Amazon."

"Exactly. But it so happens there are four ways to become an Amazon too. The first is to be born one, obviously out. The second is that special council consideration again, which is even more of a no go for me. The third is for an Amazon to adopt you, but that has to get council approval, so that's a serious long shot even if I could convince Cologne or someone to adopt me. The last is to become one by marriage, which is obviously a problem as I'd be married already. Now if Dad married an Amazon..." Akane explained, trailing off in thought.

Kasumi smiled. "I don't think that is going to happen."

'Doubt it too, unless I can find Soon Li,' Akane thought but shook her head in dismissal of the premise. "Yeah. So, that's about where I am now."

"I see," Kasumi said in a slightly somber tone.

Akane finished her drink and sighed. "I think I'm going to take a break to clear my head," she said, standing up.

"Okay. If you go out, see if you can find Ranma."

"What for?" Akane asked.

"This seems like something you should discuss with him," Kasumi answered.

Akane huffed and started walking out. "Like talking to that jerk would help," she said, although the words had little feeling behind them, more made out of habit than anger.

Kasumi watched Akane leave with a weak smile, and when out of sight, curiously pulled the book to her side of the table and began leafing through it.

XXXXX

A short time later, Akane could be found standing on one of the canal crossing bridges, staring down at the water below. 'Of course there is one other option...' she thought with a depressed look. 'Damn it. Was that maybe what that dream was all about, a warning? A warning that if things go on like they were the same kind of terrible thing will happen between us?' she considered grimly but shook her head. 'Even if it was, it isn't like it was before. There has to be a way...'

In the month since the dream things had definitely changed. The two girls were still butting heads now and then, particularly at the start. It was too easy to fall into old patterns and naturally both girls took offense to the others perceived insults. Thankfully, both seemed to exercise enough patience and forgiveness to get past these hurdles.

They had even gone through some apologies to the other. Akane had apologized for her attitude during the whole new year's incident. Having seen the other world she had become painfully aware of just how close they had come here to something far more tragic. Shampoo, a bit surprisingly, dismissed the matter, saying she had not taken the matter very seriously herself at the time either. Still, that Akane had hindered Ranma at all at the time played on her conscience.

Shampoo in turn had apologized for erasing Akane's memory and number of other incidents. She had even gone so far to vow to not harm Akane, although Akane had to admit she always had regarded Shampoo as little real threat. Still, this whole thing had lead to the question of the legal situation Shampoo was in. Shampoo had tried to dismiss this as well, but it was clear it was playing on her mind.

'She's probably always thought that Cologne would have her back if the worst happened. However, if what we saw in that dream is true...' Akane thought with a frown. 'She has been acting... different around Ranma too,' she added.

With a sigh, Akane stood up straight. 'You don't need to find all the solutions today, you know,' she reminded herself. Just then a familiar bike bell was heard, drawing her attention. As expected, Shampoo rode up on her bike.

"Shampoo!" Akane greeted.

With a nimble hop, Shampoo popped off her bike and pulled to a stop next to Akane. "Nihao," she greeted with a smile.

Akane noticed the absence of a delivery box on Shampoo's bike and asked, "What you doing?"

"Ukyo call. Say need someone translate. Shampoo only one available," Shampoo explained and she started to walk her bike, Akane following along beside her.

"What's she need a translator for?" Akane asked in confusion.

Shampoo shrugged. "She no tell Great Grandmother," Shampoo replied before looking off to the side and asking, "You fight Ranma again?"

"No!" Akane quickly retorted, getting an amused giggle from Shampoo. "Actually, we haven't been fighting nearly as much lately," she added.

"Hmm," Shampoo replied in a more somber tone, causing Akane to eye her curiously.

Whatever conclusions Akane would draw from this were temporarily forgotten as the pair spotted Ukyo's restaurant ahead. Shampoo rested her bike against the building's exterior and entered with Akane.

"Shampoo?! Why couldn't Mousse come?" Ukyo asked in annoyance.

"He still recover," Shampoo replied.

"Serves the jerk right, attacking me for no reason," Ranma commented.

This was enough to make Shampoo realize he was there and she rushed over to hug him. "Airen! Why you here?" she ask the now flustered Ranma.

Ukyo slammed her hands on the countertop, angrily glaring at her rival. "Hey! Hands off!"

Teasingly, Shampoo responded by sticking her tongue out at the okonomiyaki chef before tightening her hold on Ranma. "Ranma no should eat here. Shampoo give Ranma all ramen could want. Much much better." Predictably, this only angered Ukyo that much more.

"Come on you guys!" Ranma pleaded as he tried to get himself loose.

Akane watched the whole scene with surprising calm. She had come to understand this was just a little game of Shampoo's meant to annoy Ukyo. That she could tolerate... for a little while. So, while the two girls bickered, her attention wandered the room, quickly focusing on the girl at the end of the counter who was trying to remain inconspicuous. Naturally, this had quite the opposite effect as Akane grew suspicious. For a few seconds, she remained puzzled by the girl, the girl's extremely short hair throwing Akane off. Finally though, when the girl chanced a look back, it started to fit.

"It can't be..." Akane said in shock as recognition took hold.

This was enough to draw the attention of the others, and when Shampoo followed Akane's gaze, she too was shocked. "Perfume!"

"You know her?" Ukyo accused Shampoo as the Perfume once more shied away in a useless effort to be forgotten.

"She from village, but Shampoo no know she here," Shampoo said with a frown.

"Well, get with the talking already," Ukyo said in annoyance.

After giving Ukyo a brief glare, Shampoo relented and walked over. Perfume seemed ready to run, but apparently concluded such was futile and held her place as Shampoo began talking to her.

"Hey, Akane," Ukyo said quietly, gaining the other girl's attention. "What's up? How'd you recognize her?"

"Ah, me?" Akane replied nervously, gaining a suspicious look from Ukyo in response. "Shampoo showed me some pictures from her village is all," she lied.

"Oh? You two are getting awfully close lately," Ukyo said slyly.

Akane frowned. "What? That a crime or something? Not like I haven't talked to you now and then, now is it?"

Ukyo likewise frowned. "I suppose that is true. Course we don't generally go around exchanging pictures either..."

"It's not like that," Akane complained. 'I really stuck my foot in it, didn't I?' she added in thought as Ukyo continued to eye her suspiciously. "So, where'd you find her?" Akane asked in an attempt to shift the topic.

Ukyo eyed Akane a second longer, but relented and answered, "That stupid bunch of school punks were harassing her."

"You didn't get into a fight with her did you?" Akane asked.

"No, of course not," Ukyo replied.

"Good thing, she's an Amazon after all," Akane replied.

Ukyo looked over at Perfume, puzzled. "I'm having a hard time buying that. She was in tears at just the prospect of being hurt!"

"Really?" Ranma asked, gaining a nod from Ukyo. "Yeah, doesn't sound very Amazon-ish."

At that moment Shampoo started to giggle gaining the other's attention. This apparently embarrassed Perfume who complained. The two exchanged a few more words before Shampoo returned to the others, while Perfume quickly turned away.

"What?" Ukyo asked as Shampoo continue to giggle. "What's so funny?"

"Oh it... it..." Shampoo started through her giggles until she broke into a fit of laughter.

"Alright, spill it!" Ukyo ordered in annoyance.

Shampoo took a few seconds to control herself and replied, "You is so lucky Ukyo, you have new girlfriend."

Ranma and Ukyo both simultaneously replied, "WHAT?!"

"What do you mean girlfriend?!" Ukyo asked after another second.

"Perfume say she like you VERY much for help before. She think you like her too," Shampoo answered.

"WHAT?! But I... All I did was be nice to her. I'm not that type of girl. You got to explain that to her!" Ukyo insisted.

"Shampoo already try. She no listen, or maybe no understand. Can no be sure," Shampoo replied.

Ukyo hung her head and started rubbing her eyes in frustration. "I don't need this, Tsubasa is enough trouble! What's she doing here anyway?"

Shampoo took a glance back at Perfume and replied, "She say she run away from village. Take first boat find and end up here. Very lucky."

"For you maybe," Ukyo replied bitterly.

"Why would she run away?" Ranma asked.

Shampoo looked back at Ranma with a frown. "What think? She big joke in village. Imagine, woman who cry at slightest hit, very disgraceful."

Ukyo looked back up to glare at Shampoo. "Hey, not everyone is cut out to be a martial artist you know!"

This momentarily startled Shampoo, but looking back at Perfume, Shampoo became more somber. "Yes, Ukyo is right. Not all woman make good fighter."

"Hmh," Ukyo replied, looking back over at Perfume. "Well, you go back over there and tell her I'm already spoken for." As Shampoo nodded and started to move, Ukyo added, "And she can't stay here."

Shampoo paused with a teasing smile for Ukyo. "Ukyo, so cruel, deny young girl affections."

"Quit that!" Ukyo complained.

With a chuckle, Shampoo returned to speaking with Perfume. After a moment, the girl noticeably slumped, once more eyeing Ranma coldly.

"And if any of you breathe a word of this-" Ukyo quickly said to Akane and Ranma.

"Not a word," Akane replied.

"Wouldn't think of it," Ranma likewise added.

"You too, Shampoo!" Ukyo said, causing the Amazon to consider. "I mean it!"

Shampoo considered another moment before finally shrugging and giving Ukyo a nod.

At that moment, a new customer came in, distracting Ukyo. Shampoo returned to the others while Perfume got up and headed outside.

"You did tell her that Ukyo is a girl, right?" Ranma asked.

"Yes. Shampoo is surprised too. Thought Perfume like men," Shampoo replied in some puzzlement.

"Maybe she's Bi-sexual?" Akane suggested.

"As long as she isn't after me," Ranma said as he stood up. "I'm heading home, seeya."

After getting a chorus of goodbyes from the others, Ranma headed out. Shampoo was about to follow when Akane pulled her up short.

"It is awfully weird to see her here, isn't it?" Akane asked.

Moving outside, Shampoo nodded. "Yes," she replied, looking down the street a ways to where Perfume stood waiting reluctantly. "No tell whole story. She say odd things happen. She try go many other places, even back home, but was like someone put spell on her. She always end up further and further away. Sound crazy. Probably make up story as excuse."

"Hmh," Akane said as she too looked over at Perfume.

"Is strange," Shampoo commented. "See her now, Shampoo think is like she and Shampoo switch spots."

"What? Her family disowned her?" Akane asked in shocked.

"No, but maybe even worse. She renounce warrior rights. No have be warrior anymore, but for womans to do such thing is viewed very badly in village. That why hair cut short. Other girls cut it as... punishment," Shampoo explained.

Akane frowned angrily. "Figures." She had already discussed Perfume at length with Shampoo previously so was aware of the girl's aversion to pain, but only now did it sink it what that had meant for her. "You should talk to her," Akane suggested suddenly.

Shampoo hung her head. "Know what Akane mean, but no think work. Shampoo no better than other girls to Perfume. She no trust."

"You could try apologizing," Akane pressed on, getting Shampoo to consider.

"Maybe," Shampoo conceded after a few seconds.

Satisfied Akane switched to a different topic. "At least she didn't get defeated or anything."

"No matter. Give up warrior rights mean no bound by law," Shampoo replied.

"Oh?"

Shampoo nodded, glancing away. "But can only do such before, not after break law."

"Oh," Akane repeated in disappointment.

"Even if still warrior, Shampoo no think Ukyo in danger now. If Perfume like girl, Shampoo think she always choose marry."

"What?" Akane asked in confusion.

"You have translation, you no see?" Shampoo asked

"No, I didn't..." Akane impulsively answered before realizing she'd be caught. "How did-"

"Mousse no very subtle," Shampoo replied, but waved the matter off. "Shampoo no mind. She know what Akane try do, but now Akane must know nothing be done."

Despite the assurance, Akane could not help but look away in guilt. After a few seconds to let the feeling pass, Akane turned her mind back to the original matter. "I wonder, maybe she knew in the other world too?"

"Hmm," Shampoo said as she considered. "Perfume is very sensitive. Is possible."

"Now I want to find out," Akane muttered, Shampoo chuckling before retrieving her bike in preparation to leave. "Say, Shampoo," Akane said, causing Shampoo to pause and look back. "Do you suppose we could? Use the bracelets and go back I mean?"

"Why Akane want to do? Have Ranma here," Shampoo asked in confusion.

Once more Akane was surprised by Shampoo's insight. 'I guess... seeing things from the other side, she figured it out,' Akane realized with a frown. "Maybe it's nothing... I just have a lot of questions. I mean..." she tried to explain. "Maybe by seeing what happens with Perfume in that world..." she continued.

Shampoo thought for a moment. "Probably no even work," she pointed out.

"Or we just have the same dream, or a complete different one, but you never know. It is worth a try, isn't it? I know you want to go back," Akane said with a confident smile.

Finally Shampoo nodded. "Okay. If Akane willing try, Shampoo wear bracelet tonight."

"Great," Akane replied. "I guess I should head home too."

Shampoo nodded and exchanged goodbyes as Akane walked off, then joined Perfume.

"**Is she your friend?**" Perfume asked.

Shampoo thought on this a moment, but finally nodded. "**Yes,**" Shampoo replied. "**Come on, the Nekohanten isn't far from here.**"

Sighing Perfume followed as Shampoo lead the way. "**She's Akane Tendo, right?**" Perfume asked after about a block, to which Shampoo nodded. "**Isn't she one of the girls claiming your husband? Why would you be friends with her?**"

"**It's complicated,**" Shampoo replied. "**Besides, that doesn't matter anymore.**"

Perfume eyed Shampoo curiously. "**Have you given up?**" she asked after another minute, but got no reply. Perfume huffed. 'Not like I care anyway,' she thought.

XXXXX

Back at the Nekohanten, Cologne was busy covering the restaurant activities on her own. Despite the need for cooking, greeting and serving, Cologne was easily able to manage all the tasks on her own, although she prefered help.

'Where is that girl?' the elder thought as she looked up at the clock after taking payment from a customer. As the customer left the restaurant, her answer came as Shampoo came in.

"Great Grandmother, I back!" Shampoo called out as she came in.

"As I see, what..." Cologne started to reply, but once more her answer walked in the door. "Perfume?!" Nervous, Perfume hesitated at the door once she noticed the elder. "**What exactly are you doing here in Japan?**" Cologne asked with a frown.

"**It's... a bit of a long story,**" Perfume nervously replied.

"**Is that so, then you had best start telling it,**" Cologne responded, pointing the to the back. "**Come,**" she ordered and reluctantly Perfume obeyed, heading into the kitchen with Cologne.

Shampoo discreetly moved to within earshot of the conversion in the back and listened in as Perfume begin recounting her tale of coming to Nerima. Like Shampoo, Cologne was dubious on the details, but on hearing Perfume a second time stick to it even in the face of the elder, Shampoo's doubts faded. At the end of the tale, Shampoo walked in, not betraying her earlier eavesdropping.

"**That's quite the tale,**" Cologne said with a shake of her head.

"**It's the truth, I swear! I wouldn't make something that weird up,**" Perfume argued causing the elder to frown. In turn, Perfume cringed and hung her head meekly.

"**Great Grandmother, she's here now. Can't she just stay with us for a while?**" Shampoo suggested, shifting Cologne's attention.

After a few seconds Cologne shrugged. "**I suppose little can be done about it right now. Very well. But, don't think you will get off easy here, young lady. I expect you to earn your keep. You can wash the dishes,**" Cologne directed getting a meek nod from Perfume.

The chime of the door drew their attention to a new customer prompting the three to set to their tasks. Shampoo headed out to greet and serve, Perfume headed to the sink, while Cologne went to the stove.

As the elder moved, she cast a glance through the serving hole at Shampoo, pondering. 'Odd. Shampoo seemed very tense there, like she was ready for a fight.' Looking back at Perfume, Cologne came to no answer to Shampoo's unusual reaction and temporarily dismissed the matter.

XXXXX

Later that night, Akane entered her room, reading the translation she had received from Mousse. As she did, she could not help but chuckle as she read a particular section. "Wow, didn't even think they'd allow that," she said, closing the book. "Ukyo's fortunate."

Sitting on Akane's pillow, P-chan squealed in an inquisitive way at the comment.

"Ukyo nearly got herself an Amazon wife," Akane said to the piglet, setting the book aside and readying herself for bed. As she finished putting on her pajamas, a thought hit her. 'You know, this actually opens up a new option... oh what am I thinking. Shampoo and Ranma would never go for that,' she thought with a shake of her head and turned to other matters.

Rifling through her gym supplies she found her target, the bracelet. As expected, Nabiki had yet to brave the smell of old gym socks to find something new to 'borrow'. Examining the bracelet, Akane gave one last passing consideration to just putting the bracelet away and forgetting the whole thing, but this was quickly dismissed.

"Maybe now I'll be able to find out why I got so mad at Ryoga last time," she commented as she put the bracelet on.

Once more the piglet squealed, although this time sounding nervous to Akane's ears. She turned to her pet, quickly scanning the room, but finding nothing out of the ordinary asked, "What's wrong P-chan?" Of course, the pig could not answer her, but a thought came to her. "Oh, you're worried about that nasty old Ranma, aren't you? Well, don't worry, if he tries anything..." Akane said, pounding one of her fist into the palm of the other. This seemed to calm the piglet

Satisfied, Akane turned off the room light and headed to bed.

XXXXX

Across town, Cologne finished talking on the phone as Shampoo finished the last of the clean up for the day. "Seems Perfume has a reprieve for now," the elder commented.

"Parents no mad?" Shampoo asked.

"Of course they are mad," Cologne replied, but waved this off. "But, nothing serious."

"Hmh," Shampoo replied. "Shampoo done. Go bed now."

"Alright. Perfume already settled?" Cologne asked.

"Yes," Shampoo replied as she left.

Cologne looked to where Shampoo left, a frown of thought on her face. 'Ever since that dream she had she's been acting strange. It is almost as if she expects a battle at any moment,' Cologne thought. 'Or perhaps, she is worried about my reaction? Odd though, I've made no issue of this new relationship with Akane.'

No easy answer available, Cologne shut off the lights and slowly headed to the bedroom herself. 'Perhaps it is that very relationship that is the issue though. She may have realized just how far from her goal she is and is worried about that,' Cologne concluded. 'Perhaps then it is time to discuss contingency plans with her. It should at least put her at ease.

'And as for Perfume, if she stays that too could be useful. Always thought she had wasted potential,' Cologne continued to think, already toying with a few ideas.

Opening the door to her shared room with Shampoo, she saw the girl already in her bedding, laying on her side. Cologne briefly considered speaking to her now, but decided it was too late. 'It will keep till tomorrow,' she thought as she too prepared to sleep.

Unknown to Cologne, Shampoo had already slipped on her bracelet. The elder had cautioned Shampoo against using unknown magics after dragging of the basics of the whole dream incident out of her. However, that had not stopped her.

Looking under the covers at the bracelet, Shampoo pondered her life against that in the dream. 'Why is it? Why do I want to go back? Is it just about Ranma? No. As crazy as it is, I think I prefer it there,' she thought with a slight frown. 'If only I could stay forever...'

Closing her eyes on that thought, Shampoo let herself drift off.

XXXXX

Some hours later, when all within the two households were asleep, as they had done before, the bracelets began to glow.

%End Chapter 14

Well, as you may guess, time to go back to the other world. As I also guess, pretty much gutted this chapter completely. Same basic events but almost completely retold.

A special note, there has been a few people bringing up issues with the summary, which is fine. The former actually told me the issue (I didn't mention the alternate dimension) and I adjusted, but another anonymous reviewer apparently is still finding the current summary confusing. Problem is, I have no idea exactly what he or she is finding confusing about it. I can't fix it if I don't know what is broken. If that reviewer (or someone else) can elaborate I can adjust the summary quite easily.


	16. Chapter 15

%Chapter 15

Akane awoke to an annoying glow. "It's not morning already..." she muttered as she opened her eyes, but quickly found the glow was not from the morning sun. Memories quickly fell into place at that point and she turned her attention to her wrist to see the bracelet now dimming. At that moment, confusion took hold as her conflicting memories became obvious. That confusion soon amplified with a voice from across the room.

"Aiyah, what is..." Shampoo, her hair cut short, started to say as she too awoke, and just as Akane had done, her attention quickly turned to the bracelet to see the last glimmer of the magic fade away. A second later she in turn noticed Akane and the pair shared a moment simply staring at each other.

"Did you-" Akane began to ask.

"Have dream, yes. Very strange," Shampoo quickly replied, looking at the bracelet once more as her memories started to clear. After a second more of consideration, she removed the bracelet and put it on the desk between their two beds. Akane soon did likewise.

"Strange doesn't begin to describe that," Akane said, gaining a nod from her adoptive sister.

There would be little sleep for the rest of the night.

XXXXX

Later that morning, Shampoo was at Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, waiting in the empty grill and dining area. Her wait wasn't long when Mousse returned with a scroll.

"**Yeah, here it is. It says here the bracelets can cause the wearers to gain a friendship or value a present friendship more. This dream about that other world must be the bracelets' way of making you value your friendship with Akane more. This is the first night you wore them together, isn't it?**" Mousse asked.

"**Yes,**" Shampoo answered.

Mousse nodded. "**Yeah, then that has to be it then.**"

"**Well, I didn't like it one bit,**" Shampoo said with a frown. "**It was so real...**"

"**It was just a dream. Shouldn't be anything to worry about. Just don't wear them anymore.**"

"**I thought you said they had used up their power?**" Shampoo said causing Mousse to cringe.

"**Sorry, I guess I was wrong. They are complex magical artifacts. I guess some functions don't use as much power as others,**" Mousse guessed.

Shampoo sighed and nodded, giving Mousse a bit of a smile. "**No harm done I guess. I'll tell Akane. Thanks Mousse.**"

"**Sure, oh wait. You might as well take this with you,**" Mousse said, handing over the scroll along with some other papers. "**No real use to me anymore.**"

Shampoo nodded and accepted the papers just as Ukyo entered from outside followed closely by Perfume. Shampoo paused, looking at the Amazon before absently running her hand through her own short hair. 'It kinda is like we switched spots,' she thought, recalling the other version of Perfume from the dream.

"But is law-" Perfume tried to say as she followed but Ukyo cut her off.

"Perfume, I'm sorry, I'm just not ready for marriage right now," Ukyo said as she moved behind the grill to prepare.

Shampoo watched this, a memory sparking briefly but was quickly lost to the haze. Shaking her head, Shampoo headed out.

"You no like me?" Perfume asked with a depressed face.

"No, I... I do like you, it's just that I'm not planning on getting married anytime soon. Why don't you find yourself some nice fellow from your village, like maybe Mousse?" Ukyo replied, doing her best to not look at the Amazon, but not make such obvious

"Mousse?!" Perfume said in shock. "I no like Mousse! He arrogant, annoying, chase after other woman and make fun of me."

"Hey, I'm right here," Mousse complained but gained only a glare from the Amazon girl.

"Uh, well, that was a long time ago," Ukyo stumbled.

"Well, I no forgive him. Besides, I love you, not him," Perfume replied.

Ukyo sighed. "Perfume, trust me, we're just not right for each other."

"But-"

Losing patience, Ukyo cut Perfume off with a sharp, "No."

Perfume hung her head in defeat. She hesitated for a second, clearly considering a different approach, but quickly concluded such was useless. Bowing her head, she turned and headed out.

"Doesn't sound like it is going well," Mousse said after Perfume departed.

"Yeah. I wish she'd just give up."

Mousse smiled and shook his head. "Not likely. Amazon woman are very persistent."

"Hmm," Ukyo replied with a nod. "Don't suppose you have any bright ideas?"

"Not really," Mousse replied.

Ukyo sighed once more, but quickly put a smile on her face as a customer entered.

XXXXX

Across town a ways, Akane stood out back of the Nekohanten listening as Shampoo related what Mousse had told her. "Hmm, so it was just the bracelets. I thought so," Akane said as Shampoo finished.

"But Akane, in other... the other world it was dream... a dream too. How can we-"

"It was nothing but a dream Shampoo," Akane replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We'll lock those things up in the cabinet and never have to worry about them again. Simple as that."

"But..." Shampoo started to say in uncertainty.

"Oh come on, you don't really think we're dreaming now, do you?" Akane asked. Shampoo continuing her uncertain look, Akane reached over and pinched her cheek.

"Ow," Shampoo complained.

"See, no dream," Akane said, giving Shampoo pause. "And really, think about it. How did we get the bracelets in the other world?"

Shampoo paused then replied, "We get from strange man."

"Who not only disappeared, but so did the whole store. Come on, you know that doesn't work," Akane pointed out, causing Shampoo to think.

"Shampoo guess you right," Shampoo conceded at last.

"Of course I'm right. Heck, part of the reason I came back here, supposedly, was to figure out why I was mad at Ryoga, and I still don't know why," Akane said with a laugh. "Let's not worry about it. It was just some stupid dream. As far as I'm concerned it did its job. I like it the way it is more than ever. Now I'm just going to forget about it and you should too."

Shampoo nodded. "Okay. Shampoo should get home. Cologne no causing trouble?"

"Not so far," Akane said, looking back at the doorway to the restaurant. "Don't worry about her either. Go enjoy your day off."

Shampoo finally let herself smile and nodded before heading off with a departing wave. Akane headed back inside just in time to see Perfume arrive, depressed.

Cologne, who was sitting out in the dining area waiting, asked, "Well child?"

"He say no," Perfume reluctantly replied.

Cologne huffed and stood up on her cane. "Then I see no further point in talk. Action must be taken."

"You know, maybe if you just gave it-" Akane started to say, but the elder cut her off.

"This is none of your concern, Akane Tendo, so keep your opinions to yourself," she replied harshly.

"Well, excussse me," Akane muttered but dropped the matter.

Cologne turned back to Perfume and directed her to lead. "Come, take me to see this man." Reluctantly Perfume did as bidden and the pair headed out.

Akane watched them go with a frown. "This isn't going to be good. Maybe we should call Ukyo."

In the kitchen, Soon Li replied. "Little point in that, I'm afraid. She's already been warned and has seen what Cologne can do."

"Is there nothing more we can do?" Akane asked.

Soon Li could only sadly shake her head, lacking any ideas.

XXXXX

A short time later, back at Ucchan's, which was presently empty save for Mousse and Ukyo, Perfume entered nervously followed closely by Cologne. Ukyo looked up from her cleaning of the grill while Mousse instinctively tensed up. Cologne gave Mousse a passing glance, instead focusing on examining Ukyo, causing the younger girl to self consciously withdraw a few centimeters. Mousse in the meantime slowly started to move towards Ukyo.

Finally, Cologne frowned and turned to Perfume and started talking with her in their native tongue. Mousse suddenly stopped at hearing the conversation, looking surprised, a reaction not gone unnoticed by Ukyo, but she had no time to question such before Cologne turned back to her.

"So, you are the... mate that Perfume has chosen," Cologne said in a neutral tone.

'Mate?' Ukyo repeated mentally before responding. "Uh, look, like I told her, I'm not into a marriage at this time."

"You seem to think you have a choice in the matter," Cologne replied.

"I think I do," Ukyo replied with a frown.

Cologne smiled then hopped up onto the grill and thrust her staff into Ukyo's chest, forcing her to the wall. "Then you are gravely mistaken. It is Amazon tradition and law that Perfume marry you. You will consent to this marriage one way or another."

Ukyo continued to frown at being pushed around, but did not let herself rise to the bait. "I'm not being forced into anything, lady."

Unexpectedly, Cologne nodded and pulled back her staff before hopping back to the ground. "We shall see. Perfume, come." With that, Cologne headed, out.

Perfume hesitated, looking to Ukyo sadly, quickly saying, "I very sorry about this," before rushing to follow her instructor.

Ukyo watched them go with a frown, absently rubbing her chest where Cologne had jabbed her with her staff. "That... actually went way easier than I was expecting."

"Yeah, and I don't think you need to worry about Perfume finding out you're a girl anymore," Mousse added.

"Hmh?" Ukyo said in surprise.

"I should have realized this. Perfume is super sensitive. She probably knew from the first moment she met you," he analyzed, further confusing Ukyo. "She knows you're a girl."

"What?" Ukyo exclaimed in shock. "But, I thought the law-"

"I did too. Let me go check on that for a sec," Mousse said, turning and heading into the back room.

'She knows I'm a girl,' Ukyo repeated in shock. Pondering this, Ukyo rubbed her eyes just as a customer came in. Ukyo quickly reset her air to that of business owner and smiled courteously. "What can I get you, sugar?"

"Give me one of those deluxes," the man said as he took a seat.

"Coming right up," Ukyo replied, starting up the girl and pouring out the batter. As that cooked, Mousse came out from the back, gesturing for Ukyo to join him. Ukyo did as bidden, noting he was now holding a large book

"Article 12, section 5, sub-paragraph 3, point 6 and I quote," Mousse began reading off the text. "If an Amazon female is defeated by an outsider female, but that Amazon female is of alternate sexual preference, she may choose to kill the outsider or to take the outsider as her mate."

"You're kidding?!" Ukyo said in shock.

"Afraid not. News to me too. Never gone this deep into the laws," Mousse replied as he closed the book. "On the plus side, you don't have to worry about her trying to kill you anymore."

"In some respects, I think I'd prefer that," Ukyo replied with a sigh. Returning to the grill, she prepared to take the okonomiyaki off, placing one of her spatulas beneath but paused and turned back to Mousse. "Don't they take what I want into account."

"No," Mousse answered. "Amazon laws are very self centered. Besides, it technically is Perfume's obligation, not yours."

"Wonderful," Ukyo replied with a shake of her head and returned to the okonomiyaki. However, as she touched the metal spatula she quickly withdrew her hand with a start. "D... ow!" she exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Mousse asked in concern, moving quickly to her side.

Ukyo looked down at her hand to see it reddened. "I got burnt. How the heck did that happen?"

Cautiously, Mousse grabbed a hold of the spatula, but feeling it merely warm easily took the okonomiyaki off. "It's a little warm but it couldn't have possibly burnt you," he said in puzzlement.

As Ukyo puzzled over this, Mousse served the okonomiyaki before turning back to Ukyo. "See, nothing," he said, shifting the spatula harmlessly between his hands.

Confused, Ukyo reached out to touch it again and had the same result. "It's searing hot! How can you hold that?!" Ukyo asked in disbelief.

"Honest, I'm not doing anything special," Mousse replied.

"Uh, is something wrong?" The customer asked.

"It's nothing," Mousse assured him, gesturing for Ukyo to follow him to a more discrete distance to talk.

Mousse clearly presented the spatula to Ukyo resting on his palm. "See, it's barely even warm. I just don't..." he started but stopped in realization. "Wait a second. Oh no. Come on. We got to get you to Dr. Tofu right away."

"Why?" Ukyo said in sudden concern.

XXXXX

A little later at Dr. Tofu's clinic, Dr. Tofu just finished examining Ukyo and was looking at an X-ray. Ukyo sat nervously on a stool while Mousse stood behind her.

"No doubt about it, the Cat's tongue point," the doctor concluded.

"Cat's tongue?!"

The doctor nodded, putting aside the X-ray. "I'm afraid so. You're whole body is now super sensitive to heat. Even mild temperatures above normal room temperature will seem like they're boiling to you. The burn is more psychosomatic than real damage but that is nearly as bad."

Ukyo blinked in shock at hearing this. "How long does this last?" she asked after a moment.

The doctor shook his head. "It's permanent."

Ukyo stood up sharply. "Nono... that can't be right."

"I'm afraid it is," Tofu replied.

As Ukyo tensed, Mousse cut in.

"Can you reverse it?" the Amazon boy asked.

"I'm afraid not," Tofu answered. "This particular point is very hard to correctly manipulate and I'm afraid I'm just not qualified. I could give you a one time temporary fix but that's the best I can do, and honestly it would do little for you."

Hearing this Ukyo clenched her fists tightly and began to shake. "But... but... I can't cook like this! I can't even get near the grill! What am I going to do?" Ukyo asked with increasing urgency.

"The only thing I can advise is to see Cologne and ask her," the doctor replied. "Of course, that is probably exactly what she-

"Right, the ghoul, yeah," Ukyo said, ignoring the doctor's warning and quickly rushed out before either of the men could dissuade her.

Mousse rushed after her, catching up with her nearly a block away on course for the Nekohanten. "Ukyo, wait!"

"What?" Ukyo asked impatiently while continuing here march.

"She already told you what she wants, for you to consent to marrying Perfume," Mousse pointed out as he matched step with her.

This pulled Ukyo to a stop, and she turned to Mousse. "But that's nuts! I can't marry a girl!"

"Then what are you going to do?" Mousse asked.

"I'll force her to fix this," Ukyo declared.

Mousse shook his head. "Akane nearly died in a fight with Cologne, and frankly she wasn't even fighting seriously, and you expect to beat her? I don't think so."

Ukyo ignored this and resumed her march. "I don't care! It's all that I have left and I'm not going to let the old bat take it from me!" she angrily yelled, her pace increasing with the words.

Mousse shook his head before resuming his pursuit of Ukyo.

XXXXX

Moments later Ukyo rushed into the Nekohanten, finding Cologne waiting calmly at a table. Akane, oblivious to all that had transpired, gave Ukyo a confused look. "Ukyo? What are you doing here?" she asked as Mousse caught up.

"Ask the ghoul!" Ukyo said in angry accusation as Perfume and Soon Li joined the situation from the kitchen.

Cologne smiled to herself. "I see you discovered your little problem."

"You better fix this right now or you're going to be in for a hell of a lot of trouble!" Ukyo threatened.

"Is that so?" Cologne replied, unimpressed. "Perfume has related to me how you defeated her. A fluke at best. I hardly think you could defeat her in a proper duel, yet here you are threatening me. Well, I'll give you credit for bravery if nothing else."

Ukyo drew her battle spatula in an increasing rage. "I'm warning you..."

"Come then, impress me, and I'll gladly undo the cat tongue point," Cologne replied, turning to Ukyo.

"Fine!" Ukyo yelled and rushed onto the attack with a furious charge. Cologne hopped to the side and tapped Ukyo on the back as she passed sending her into the floor. The others watched this in shock, uncertain how to address the situation.

Ukyo struggled to push herself back up as Mousse moved over to be beside Perfume. Finally, Ukyo stood back up and drew several of her throwing spatulas. "You..." she growled before throwing them with all her speed and might as the elder. Unfortunately, Cologne was little phased, simply spinning her staff and deflecting the projectiles safely away.

"Is this the best you can do, Miss Kuonji?" Cologne asked with a sigh. "Truly it is even worse than I was expecting!"

"Shut up!" Ukyo roared and attempted another rush but Cologne knocked her to the floor with two quick staff thrusts. The elder did not stop there though, and, in a blur of movement, knocked Ukyo's battle spatula and remaining throwing spatulas away. Ukyo managed to flip to her feet and attempt a kick at the old woman but Cologne countered with a blur of strikes that sent Ukyo flying through the doorway and into the street.

"Airen!" Perfume exclaimed in concern before rushing outside after Ukyo, followed closely by Mousse.

"Disappointing," Cologne said and returned to her seat before noticing Akane and Soon Li glaring at her. "She'll be fine," the elder said dismissively before pulling out a pipe.

XXXXX

It was many hours later before Ukyo groaned and opened her eyes once more. She found herself bandaged and laying on her bed at her home. Before she could manage to sit up Perfume suddenly hugged her fiercely.

"Oh airen, was so worried! You is okay, yes?" Perfume asked in concern, but was shocked when Ukyo pushed her away angrily.

"Perfume, let me go!" Ukyo said, prompting Perfume to withdraw meekly. "How could you do this to me?! Don't you understand, I'm not going to marry you!" Ukyo asked, her anger still fresh.

"I is sorry," Perfume quickly replied, lowering her head. "I no know Cologne do that. I no want hurt husband."

"Why do you keep calling me your husband? I'm a woman, not a man," Ukyo asked in annoyance.

"Thought you... like acting as boy. Is no true?" Perfume said nervously.

Seeing this, Ukyo tensed in an effort to rein in her emotions before dropping her face into her hands and shook her head.

"I is really sorry," Perfume said honestly. "I help you get cure if want," she added quickly.

Ukyo looked up at Perfume suspiciously. "Why?"

"I no want you become mate through force," Perfume explained.

"Then tell Cologne that," Ukyo urged.

Perfume shook her head. "I did. She no change mind."

Ukyo dropped her face back into her hands. After a minute she looked back up at the Amazon. "Look, Perfume, I'm not like you. I'm not attracted to other girls," Ukyo explained, but Perfume looked back at her in confusion. "You do know that some people are only attracted to people of the opposite sex, don't you?" she asked somewhat nervously.

"I no understand. I know girl would prefer boy but if find good-"

"Nonono, you may be like that but I'm not," Ukyo insisted.

Perfume continued to look confused. "How know?"

"Uh, I just do," Ukyo replied.

"Have ever given other girl chance? I be very good wife for you," Perfume said with a hopeful look.

Ukyo blinked, unsure how to respond. "I'm sure you could be a good wife but-"

"Then give me chance. I show you I be good wife."

"Perfume, you don't understand," Ukyo desperately persisted.

Suddenly Perfume's look turned sad. "You no like me."

"Nono-"

Growing further depressed, Perfume said, "I knew it. No one ever like weakling girl like me. I going to be alone for rest of life!"

Ukyo watched with a cringe as Perfume's depression grew to open tears. Desperate to cut off this deterioration in the situation, Ukyo waved her hands and said, "Nono, that's not what I mean! I do like you, just-"

"You do?" Perfume asked hopeful, rubbing away her tears.

"Yes but-" Ukyo tried to say, but was cut off as Perfume suddenly seized her in a tight hug. "Oh, you make me so happy. I show you be good wife."

"But-" Ukyo tried to get out, but found her lungs unable to pull in necessary air in the hug.

Fortunately, that situation soon ended as Perfume let Ukyo go and rushed to the door, giving Ukyo a chance to pull in much needed air. "I go find cure for you right now. I make you very proud," Perfume declared and before Ukyo could respond left the room.

Ukyo looked at the empty doorway in shock for a long moment before lowering her head and rubbing her temples in despair. At that moment, Mousse came to the door, noisily clearing his throat, causing Ukyo to look up at him, looking near tears herself.

"I take it things aren't going so well," Mousse said with a comforting smile.

"I said I liked her and she jumped to the conclusion that I loved her," Ukyo said, rocking her head from side to side. "Now I know how Ranma must have felt," she said in depression.

"You know, this isn't the dark ages. The world has progressed. You could give her a chance," Mousse said to Ukyo's shock.

"Have you lost your mind?!" the chef exclaimed. "I'm not like that! I'm not!" she insisted.

Mousse raised his hand in concession. "Yeah, I know, just joking."

"It's not funny," Ukyo said with a frown.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Look, I can handle the restaurant for a while so don't get worried."

"It's not that," Ukyo sharply replied before pausing to try and gather her thoughts. "I had two driving forces in my life, Ranma and my cooking. I've lost Ranma, I can't lose this too. I can't take that. I just can't. Cooking is everything to me. If I lose that..."

Ukyo bit her lip, feeling her emotions once more getting out of control. Mousse walked in and sat down next to her. "Don't give up hope. Perfume said she'd help, so will I, and I'm sure the others will too if necessary. We won't let her get away with this, I promise."

Ukyo looked at Mousse in uncertainty, but finally nodded and replied, "Thanks."

"It's the least I can do for such a nice employer," Mousse added getting a small laugh out of the girl. "Come on, you may not be able to get near the grill, but I'm sure we can arrange a least a few things you can do."

"Yeah," Ukyo said with a little hope restored, and followed Mousse to the restaurant area.

XXXXX

The next day Ukyo was rushing through the rain on her way to school. She stopped briefly below a tarp in front of a shop to shake out her hair. A whistle caused her to turn and see Ranma rushing up the street. As one would expect given the weather, Ranma was currently female and carrying Shampoo's likewise feline form in her arms along with several school bags on her back. Following not far behind were the cursed forms of Akane and Ryoga. Ukyo shook her head at the scene, still finding it difficult to believe.

"Ukyo! Can you give me a hand here?" Ranma asked as she ran up.

"Yeah, sure," Ukyo replied, taking a pair of school bags off of Ranma and picking up Ryoga and Akane. "You guys ever consider umbrellas?" she asked as they prepare to rush ahead.

"Oh sure, but pig boy there just had to take offense when I said his martial arts form needed work," Ranma said, getting a irritated snort from the piglet in response. "Oh, get over it," Ranma replied before motioning for Ukyo to follow as they ran through the rain.

"I thought you didn't like cats," Ukyo said as they ran.

"Uh, guess you could say that," Ranma admitted. "But Shampoo doesn't bother me anymore, and I'm getting used to Akane. Neither are real cats, at least that is what I tell myself. Seems to work."

The group arrived at the entrance of the school and entered, soon going to the washrooms where Ukyo dropped off the bags for Shampoo and Akane in the girl's washroom, while Ryoga and Ranma went into the other. A moment later, Ranma, back to his male self, returned outside.

"You... changed your look a bit," Ranma noted for the first time, seeing Ukyo now presenting her female form more evidently.

Ukyo looked away. "Perfume apparently always knew, and I... I figured it was about time to stop pretending."

"Oh, yeah, we heard about that. How you doing?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo shook her head. "Lousy."

"Hey, if you need any help clobbering-"

Ukyo scoffed. "What good would that do? I need her to fix this stupid thing and the only way she'll do that is if I, stress I, beat her... or impress her, whatever that means."

Ranma gave Ukyo a sympathetic frown. "Yeah, I guess that does pose a slight problem."

"Ukyo will beat old hag," Shampoo said as she exited the washroom once more human clothed. Akane soon followed in a likewise state. "She is no perfect. Ukyo just need train," Shampoo said with a serious frown.

"Train?!" Ukyo repeated in disbelief. "I lasted a total of ten seconds last time I fought her."

"Shampoo has done worse and come back to beat opponent, Ukyo can too," Shampoo assured her.

"Yeah, don't let that old hag get to you. She's human and she can be defeated, admittedly not easily but it can be done," Akane added.

Ukyo looked between the two girls in uncertainty. "I hope you're right because if you're not..." Shaking her head, Ukyo headed on her way.

"Damn, wish there was more that we could do. She does look in rough shape, almost as bad as when I told her about my engagement." Ranma said with a sigh before looking to Shampoo and Akane cautiously. "You guys don't even consider one of those blood thingies again."

"Yeah... no," Akane replied. "I got seriously lucky last time. I doubt she'd be so easy going if one of us were to try that again."

"Yes, Akane is right," Shampoo said with a sigh of her own. "Besides, would do little good even if succeed. She could just use technique again later."

Ranma nodded in agreement before frowning and looking to the boys washroom. "What's taking Ryoga so long?" he mumbled as he headed in. From outside, the two girls could hear as Ranma said, "Ryoga, you idiot! That's the washroom stall! This is the exit! NO! This way! THAT'S THE WINDOW! Ahh, come on!"

Akane couldn't help but giggle as she heard this, quickly stifling such as Ranma came out with Ryoga in tow, the lost boy dressed in a school uniform.

"Give me a break, I'm new here. I need time to get my bearings straight."

"Oh please! We're late enough as it is!" Ranma said in annoyance, leading the way to class.

XXXXX

Later that day Ranma sat below a tree examining his lunch. Shampoo came over and sat down next to him. "Something wrong?" Shampoo asked.

"Akane made lunch?" Ranma asked

"Yes," Shampoo answered.

"Okay, so what is it?" Ranma asked as he picked at it.

Shampoo shook her head with smile. "Never thought Ranma be picky eater," she said, gaining a frown from her fiance. "Akane try... is trying a new recipe. Shampoo... I sure... I'm sure it's good," Shampoo said, Ranma giving her a curious look. "Soon Li say Shampoo... I should improve Japanese. Seem like more bother than worth."

"Yeah, well, can't hurt," Ranme replied as he used his chopsticks to consume a piece of his lunch reluctantly. After initial skepticism, he grudgingly chewed and swallowed in approve. "Not so bad I guess," he admitted. "why does she insist on trying new recipes every other day."

"She trying... is trying to broaden her horizons, as she say... said," Shampoo said.

"Her horizons are wide enough. Some of this stuff I'm not too sure about," Ranma said, taking another mouthful.

"At least you no... didn't taste her early creations. Shampoo... I had to suffer through them for two months while... I taught her to cook," Shampoo said.

Ranma looked at Shampoo skeptically. "Come on, it couldn't have been that bad."

"Ranma, she once use... used salt instead of sugar to make a cake," Shampoo said. Ranma initially looked disbelieving but the serious look on Shampoo's face convinced him she was seriously. "Ugh," he said in disgust.

"And that was after a month and a half of training," Shampoo said, shuddering as she remembered Akane's early creations.

"By the way, you forgot to speak correctly this morning," Ranma pointed out.

Shampoo frowned. "It just thought of gr... Cologne that make Shampoo so mad!"

"She can be quite the nuisance, but she's been relatively civil since the fight," Ranma said.

"She probably just wait to do something else... like what do to Ukyo," Shampoo said in irritation. "Still can no believe she actually try kill Akane. Is unforgivable!"

"Yeah, that was way over the top. The way I see it, if she-"

"Lecher! Pervert! Get him!" Female voices yelled out, cutting Ranma short.

Ranma and Shampoo turned to see a tiny little man, very old in appearance, wearing ninja style garbs, and carrying a large sack over his back, running from a large group of girls carrying various crude weapons. "What the..." Ranma said as he put aside his lunch to stand up.

Suddenly Akane leaped over the crowd and started closing the gap between herself and the old man. With a quick burst of speed she managed to catch up and grab the old man and lifted him from the ground. The crowd of girls surrounded her and the old man, and they stared evilly at him.

"Alright, you better have a good explanation for this," Akane threatened.

"Well, you see it's like this... ahh..." the old man tried to explained, seemingly intimidated, but Ranma could already smell a proverbial rat.

"Let him loose, Akane, so we can cream him," one of the girls called out, soon joined by a chorus of the others.

"Akane?" the old man said in excitement. "You're Akane?"

"Ahh, yeah," Akane confirmed, and to her shock found the old man had disappeared from her grip and was now nestled between her breasts.

"Oh Akane, it's been so long!" the old man happily said as he rubbed his face in Akane's bosom. After a second of shock, Akane naturally grew outraged and smashed the old man into the ground just as Ranma and Shampoo joined her.

"What do you think you're doing you old lech?!" Akane asked angrily. "Who are you?"

Despite the ferocity of Akane's strike, the old man easily shook it off and looked up at her in seeming depression. "You don't remember me. I... I... I'm heartbroken. After all I did for you how could you forget me?!" he said, breaking into tears.

Akane cringed, fighting between her own anger and desire to reconcile. Desperate, she turned to Shampoo. "Do you know this man?"

"No. Never seen before... him before," Shampoo said with a frown.

Ranma stepped forward, not buying into the act. "Okay old man, just who are you supposed to be?"

As if sensing his act was failing, the old man suddenly stopped crying. "Why, I'm Soun Tendo's master of course."

"Master?! You taught my dad?!" Akane said in surprise.

"Most certainly did. Taught him every little thing he knows," the old man said proudly.

"Really... well, if true, that would probably account for Pop," Ranma said jokingly.

"Oh, so you're Ranma, are you. Genma's son. Hmmm," the old man said, once more moving so fast even Ranma and Shampoo could not track him. In several flashes he examined Ranma from various angles and finally stopped in front of him with a frown and a nod. "Not too shabby. Genma has been doing his job after all."

"Could have fooled me," Ranma said with a frown, before leaning over to Shampoo and asking quietly. "Did you see him-"

"No," Shampoo admitted in shocked. "Is like he just move instantly from place to place," she analyzed.

Frowning, Ranma returned his attention to the old man. "So, uh, what brings you around... What's your name?"

"You may refer to me as master Happosai," the old man answered.

"Yeah, whatever. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, just thought I'd pay a visit to my old pupils," Happosai replied. "We didn't exactly get to make a proper farewell when I last saw them."

Ranma looked up at the school clock. "We do have enough time to get there and back."

Akane huffed. "Fine, you two take him. Just get him out of here. Dad has got a lot of explaining to do. But, as for these..." Akane said, grabbing up the sack and tossing it to the girls.

"Hey, those are mine!" Happosai said with a hurt look.

"No they aren't. You stole them, now get going before we decide to clobber you," Akane threatened, but the old man seemed little moved by such.

Reluctantly, Happosai dropped that matter and followed after Ranma and Shampoo as they headed off. The crowd of girls continued to glare at him until they heard a pained cry going by overhead. They, along with Akane, looked up just in time to see Kuno flying by.

"I shall have vengeance, Hibiki!" Kuno called out as he continued to fly. "I shall defeat you and free the beautiful Akane Tendo once more."

Akane sighed. "Forgot about that," she muttered, running off in the direction opposite of Kuno.

XXXXX

Ranma and Shampoo never did return, and Akane and Ryoga both rushed off home as well as school came to an end. So, as usual, Ukyo found herself walking home alone. Her mind was going over some very depressing thoughts.

'Not a chance in hell of those two breaking up anytime soon. I can't believe my bloody luck! The man I fall in love with runs off, then I find out he didn't even know I was a woman. To top it off I never even had a chance at regaining him,' she thought bitterly. 'Damn that... that... No, can't blame her. Can't blame him either,' she continued on. 'Now this stupid, blasted ghoul comes in. What next?! Why doesn't a meteor come in right now and crush my skull?! At least then I finally get some peace!'

Suddenly Perfume landed in front of Ukyo, startling her.

"Ukyo!" Perfume happily said as she hugged the chef.

"Perfume, hey, do you mind!" Ukyo said, looking around the street. "People are watching you know!"

Perfume released Ukyo and smiled shyly. "Sorry, no mean embarrass you. Ahhh, have good news, I find cure."

Ukyo went wide eyed in shock. "What? How?"

"Is Phoenix pill. It give great heat resistance. With you, restore normal resistance," Perfume said.

For the first time in over a day, Ukyo let herself feel hope and excitedly took Perfume by the shoulders. "Alright! Where can I find it?" she asked urgently.

Perfume's smile grew nervous at this point and she looked down at her feet, scrapping her shoe over the sidewalk. "That is bad part. Cologne has it."

All of Ukyo's excitement drained away to nothingness and she slumped to the ground. "Great," she said sarcastically.

Perfume quickly knelt down on the ground to look Ukyo in the eye. "Not that bad. All Ukyo have do is get pill from Cologne, not defeat."

Ukyo looked up at the Amazon, considering this for a minute. "That would be easier, I guess. Where does she keep it?"

"No know, but Cologne make deal, if take amulet she wear then she tell where Phoenix pill is. If can not you agree to marriage," Perfume said, before quickly adding as Ukyo once more slumped. "I is sorry could not get better deal."

"How long do I have?" Ukyo asked.

"As long as need but only get challenge once," Perfume explained.

Ukyo considered. "It's just no good. I couldn't lay a finger on her. Even if it is just grabbing an amulet..."

"Yes, she is very fast," Perfume agreed sadly. "Even faster than I."

Ukyo hung her head once more, but then a thought came to her. "Ranma beat you, did he?"

Perfume frowned but nodded. "Yes. He use... Grand Lightning Punch. Is fast technique, much faster than Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. Maybe he teach or Shampoo, she know too," Perfume said with growing enthusiasm.

"Yeah, that just might work," Ukyo said jumping to her feet. "Tell Mousse I'll be a bit, I have to go talk to Ranma," the chef instructed before dashing off for the Tendo home.

XXXXX

Ukyo arrived, nearly out of breath, at the Tendo home. 'No need to rush so much, Ukyo,' she told herself, but found the urge still there. Shaking off that thought for the moment, she approached the front door and knocked. Initially there was no response, then she heard running feet from within, followed by several shouts of anger. Puzzled, Ukyo knocked again. This time, after another short wait, Soon Li opened the door.

Ukyo looked at the older Amazon, noting the woman seemed tired and perhaps a bit angry. "Uh... is this a bad time?" Ukyo asked.

Soon Li opened her mouth to respond just as a crash could be heard from down the hall, followed quickly by Ranma yelling out, "That's it, you old geezer, you are so getting it now!"

"No... no, it's fine," Soon Li said with a weak smile before Ranma yelled out in pain and his voice quickly faded away into the sky. Sighing, Soon Li stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

"You sure? What's going on?" Ukyo asked.

"Nothing to worry yourself about," Soon Li responded. "What can I do for you?"

"Uh... I was hoping to talk with Ranma... I guess he's... busy."

Soon Li looked up and nodded. "Something like that. What about?"

"Uh... it's about a technique he used to defeat Perfume," Ukyo explained.

Soon Li nodded. "Ah, the Grand Lightning Punch. Yes."

"You know it?"

"I'm the one that taught it to Shampoo, and she in turn taught it to Ranma," Soon Li replied.

"Oh, right, of course. Um... look, Perfume got Cologne to make a deal. She has this necklace, and if I can get it off of her, she'll give a cure for that pressure point she used on me," Ukyo said.

Soon Li nodded in understanding. "I see, and you think that if you learned the Grand Lightning Punch, you could do this. It probably would work. Cologne is fast, but even she can't match the speed of the Grand Lightning Punch. Hmm... but there is a problem."

"Problem?" Ukyo said, already tensing.

"Yes, the training involves an augmentation to your nervous system. It is an unavoidable part of the technique. However, your nervous system has already been tampered with," Soon Li explained, tapping Ukyo in the center of her chest. "I fear the two would conflict, potentially... fatally."

"You mean... I'd..." Ukyo said with growing tension. She looked down in uncertainty before looking back up at Soon Li, determined. "I'll take the risk."

"I cannot. I'm sorry. If it was just you... but one of us would have to do the deed, and that I can't approve of," Soon Li replied sadly.

Ukyo opened her mouth to argue, but sensibility won out. 'She's right. If it failed... one of them would have effectively knowingly killed me,' she thought, shaking her head in despair. "There is no other way?" Ukyo asked, head bowed.

"I'm afraid not," Soon Li replied. "Cologne may have in fact already considered this route, and chosen this method specifically because of this... or it is mere coincidence. Either way, I'm afraid we can be of little help in this regard. I am sorry."

Ukyo slumped her shoulders but nodded. "I... thanks. I'll find some other way," she said and headed off without another word.

Soon Li watched her leave and could do little more than sigh before groaning and returning inside.

XXXXX

It was nearly an hour later when Ukyo finally arrived back at her restaurant. Inside, Mousse and Perfume waited, but both could tell the moment she entered that once more luck did not seem to be on her side. "Well?" Mousse asked hesitantly.

"It's no good. Something about the technique... it's too dangerous to teach me in my condition," Ukyo replied, dropping onto a stool and resting her head on the counter.

The pair of Amazons looked at one another before Mousse spoke up once more. "Then we'll just have to improvise. Perfume, the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, you know it right?"

"Yes," Perfume replied.

"Good, that will have to do," Mousse said.

"But Cologne knows that technique and she's even faster than Perfume," Ukyo said with a sigh.

"Then we'll just have to modify it a little," Mousse said, and Perfume chimed in.

"Yes, and is not perfect defense anyway. Sight and punch at different speed. I can sometimes hit Cologne. All need is one attack get through," Perfume explained, getting Ukyo to look up curiously.

"Sight and punch...?" Ukyo repeated, puzzled.

"She means that the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken doesn't increase your senses' speed as much as your punches' speed. So, even if someone's faster, that doesn't mean you can't get a punch or two through, right?" Mousse said getting a confirming nod from Perfume.

Skeptical but hopeful, Ukyo sat up straight and asked, "Alright, what do I have to do?"

Perfume hesitated, looking to Mousse briefly before answering, "Grab chestnuts from open fire."

Ukyo sighed, just too numb to feel much at this point, mumbling, "Naturally..."

XXXXX

A few days later, Ryoga was running down a market road. For a change, he was not running in a vain hope of finding some destination, but rather in an equally vain hope of eluding the mad kendoist behind him, bokken drawn for battle.

"Face the darkness of forever, Hibiki! I shall defeat you and end your reign of terror over my love!" Kuno yelled out as he pursued.

"Give it a break would you, Kuno!" Ryoga yelled over his shoulder.

"Silence, wretch! Stand and receive your just punishment!" Kuno responded.

Ryoga hung his head as he continued his run, reflecting, 'Geez, I wonder if this is how Ranma felt when I was chasing him.' Shaking his head, he said aloud, "Ahh, hell with it!" Stopping suddenly, Ryoga paused just long enough to launch himself into the air and into a spin. Pulling his umbrella from his back, he opened it and began twirling it rapidly.

Below him, Kuno came to a halt and readied his own weapon for whatever attack Ryoga had planned. However, on seeing a tornado like wind envelop the umbrella in Ryoga grasp, he had an all too brief realization that this would not end well for him. "Take this you jerk!" Ryoga shouted out, tossing the umbrella along with the wind directly at Kuno.

To his credit, Kuno managed to fend off the attack for a few seconds, but it was ultimately futile as he got picked up in the wind and quickly tossed out head first into a street wall. An instant later her crashed down into a pile of garbage beneath him, unconscious.

Ryoga landed and sighed in relief. "Finally rid of him," he mumbled before looking around in puzzlement. "Dammit, not again! Where am I now?!" He yelled in frustration. Before said frustration had a time to reach anything worse, Akane came up the street, running. "Akane, thank God!" Ryoga said to the heavens as she came to a halt next to Kuno's fallen form.

"When's he going to get it?" Akane muttered.

"Soon I hope," Ryoga said as he joined her.

"I wouldn't count on it," Akane said with a shake of her head. "Normally I'd say it's best to avoid a fight, but in your case, maybe it is better just to hold your ground."

"Uh... yeah," Ryoga agreed, looking to his feet self consciously.

Akane giggled, causing the lost boy to blush. "Come on, I'm starved. Let's go get some food."

"Sure, ahh, where?" Ryoga asked, looking around once more in uncertainty.

"Ucchan's is just a few streets over. I want to check on how Ukyo is doing anyway so let's eat there. Come on." With a smile Akane took Ryoga by the hand and led the way, Ryoga blushing even deeper at the gesture.

Once inside the restaurant, they found Mousse cooking for a few customers. Taking a pair of free grill side seats, the pair sat down, waiting for Mousse to be free.

"Hi there, social visit or are you here to eat?" Mousse asked.

"Both. We'll just have our usual," Akane responded. "Where's Ukyo?"

Mousse gestured to the back door. "Out back with Perfume," he said before setting some batter on the girl. "She isn't doing so good," he said quietly.

Akane sighed sympathetically, prompting Ryoga to suggest, "Maybe if we all ganged up on her we could force her to tell us where the pill is."

"Cologne's not the type of person to be intimidated. She can stare down Soon Li and I get goose bumps when Soon Li gives me a stern look," Akane explained. "No, I'm afraid Ukyo's stuck."

"We could try searching again," Ryoga suggested.

"Where? I've looked everywhere I can possibly think of, and I'm sure that is true of everyone else too. She must of hidden it someplace we don't know about. It's just no good," Akane replied with a sad shake of her head before getting up. "You wait here, I'm going to talk to Ukyo. Be back in a minute or two."

"Sure," Ryoga replied, watching as Akane headed off, not able to hide the smile breaking out on his face. At noticing Mousse giving him a curious look, Ryoga quickly attempted to conceal it.

"You seem rather happy," Mousse noted.

"It's nothing to do with Ukyo," Ryoga quickly explained. "I mean... Akane and I..."

"Ah," Mousse said with a nod.

"But..." Ryoga said unexpectedly, causing Mousse to refocus on him. "It's umm... we've, you know, been da.. dating for a while now but..."

"You don't know where to go from here?" Mousse asked.

"Ahh, yeah, I guess so," Ryoga admitted.

"Well, the usual next step is to make out," Mousse said with a grin, causing the lost boy to turn completely red.

"Bu... bu... but, isn't that... awfully... forward?" Ryoga stuttered out.

Mousse smirked and shook his head at the other boy. "I've always been of the policy that if you want something you should go for it."

Ryoga blinked in shock. "You really think so?" he asked in uncertainty.

"Yeah, but then again I lost what I wanted, so perhaps seeking advice from me is not wise," Mousse replied, causing Ryoga to nervously look away.

XXXXX

Outside Ucchan's, Perfume was busy wrapping bandages on Ukyo's slightly burned hands with Akane watching, a small fire burning a few feet away.

"Ukyo, burning your hands off won't solve your problem," Akane lectured.

Ukyo glared at the fire defiantly. "I'm going to learn this stupid technique and beat that damned ghoul if it's the last thing I do."

"It very well may be if you don't take it easy. Perfume, how long did it take you to learn this technique?" Akane asked.

"Month or so," Perfume reluctantly responded.

Ukyo looked back at the Amazon girl in shock. "A MONTH! Why didn't you tell me that before?!"

"Well, ahh... umm..." Perfume nervously tried to reply but Ukyo cut her off.

"Just great! Just great!" Ukyo angrily declared, shaking her head and looking to the ground.

Perfume decided to quickly finish with the bandages, and, getting to her feet, asked, "I go help Mousse, okay?"

"Whatever," Ukyo replied, uncaring.

Perfume nervously left while Ukyo turned back to the fire and stared at it angrily. However, after only a few moments, her anger gave way to despair and she bowed her head and shook it.

"I can't take this anymore, I can't," Ukyo muttered.

"Don't talk like that," Akane said sympathetically.

"I... I just can't. I can't last a month, a week, another day even. DAMN HER!" Ukyo yelled, her tension increasingly building until the chef could be seen visibly shaking. Not sure what to do, Akane could do little more than watch as Ukyo started slamming her fists in the ground. Soon though, this came to an abrupt end, and Ukyo popped up to her feet, breathing hard and looking desperate. "I have to give in," she said.

"No, come on-" Akane tried to say, but Ukyo cut her off.

"I HAVE TO! Akane, I can't take this any longer. One more day and I'll lose it completely. I don't care anymore, anything is better than this."

"You don't-"

"I do! Cooking is my life, and... I can't," she said, tears being to take hold.

Akane hesitated, but then grew stern. "No, you can't give into her! You can't! You can do this."

"I CAN'T! I CAN'T! It's too much for me to take! I'll lose everything I have if this goes any longer, everything."

Ukyo started to walk rapidly off but Akane rushed in front of her and blocked her path. "Ukyo, get a hold of yourself!" Akane ordered. "Are you going to let some old crone defeat you with some stupid trick?!" Akane's firmness gave Ukyo pause. "If you give in now you'll be trapped in a false marriage to another woman. You won't be happy, even she won't be happy really. You got to hold out, not only for yourself but for her too."

"But-" Ukyo started to reply, but Akane sternly shook her head.

"No buts! I know you're still hurting from finding out about Ranma and Shampoo. I... had to deal with that too. You can't just let yourself give into despair like this."

Ukyo cringed at the mention of Ranma, but after a moment of consideration slowly nodded, some of her determination restored.

"You're right, you're right, but what do I do? I'm no closer to learning this dumb technique than I was two days ago," Ukyo asked.

Akane frowned, looking back at the flame. "Fundamentally, it is just a speed technique, isn't it? Maybe that's the problem. Because of your condition, you're using the hardest possible method of learning it. Maybe you should just look for another way."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Akane reluctantly answered. "You're just going to have to find something."

Ukyo considered, likewise looking back at the fire. After a moment, she sighed, looking back at Akane before rubbing her face to relieve some tension. With a heavy sigh, she said, "I need to go for a walk." Calmed, she walked by Akane, before pausing and saying, "Thanks Akane, I was..."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. Can happen to the best of us, especially with Cologne involved," Akane replied.

Ukyo nodded, but then asked. "How long... did it take-"

"I'm still not totally over it," Akane replied. "But, I can deal with it."

Ukyo nodded once more and walked off down the alley. Akane watched her leave, sighed and blew out the fire before heading back in. Perfume sat nervously waiting at the seat nearest the door.

"Is Ukyo better now?" the Amazon asked.

"For now. Perfume, are you sure you can't remember anything about where she might have hidden that pill?" Akane asked.

Perfume shook her head. "No remember anything. No even know she had until she say so. Could be anywhere."

"Well, unless something drastic happens really soon, she's not going to make it," Akane said with a look back at the door. "And, unfortunately, I have no ideas."

Naturally, this worried Perfume, but even behind the girl, Mousse could not help but show concern over the situation.

XXXXX

"There now, just breathe... deep... that's right," Akane instructed within the Tendo dojo, Ryoga her student. The lost boy stood at one end of the dojo, a set of bricks were located opposite him. "And... now!"

Ryoga thrust his fist out at the bricks and promptly was blown backwards, out through the open doorway and onto the walkway. Akane blinked in shock at seeing this then sighed, thinking to herself, 'well, right amount of power, just wrong direction, which I suppose shouldn't be that surprising...'

"Sorry! Sorry! My fault!" Ryoga quickly said from outside before stumbling back in. "I... ah..."

"Let's try again," Akane said and walked over to join Ryoga. "Here now, set your stance like this," she instructed. Nodding Ryoga quickly mirrored her. "No, close but..." she said as she moved to adjust Ryoga's position slightly.

With every touch from Akane to reposition a fine point of Ryoga's form, he couldn't help but blush deeper and deeper. This became only worse as she moved behind him, continuing the process.

"See, there, feel better," Akane's voice said quietly from his ear as she pressed up near to him.

"Uh... yes!" Ryoga replied with unusual confidence. With a quick motion, he once more thrust out his fist, this time with perfect form, destroying the bricks across the room with a flawless fist of wind. "Of course, that was so obvious. I should have seen it sooner."

"Excellent," Akane said from behind, causing Ryoga to turn quickly to her and take her by the shoulders. "Ryoga?"

"Akane, you know you are the girl I love right?" Ryoga asked with determination.

"Of course, and I love you too," Akane replied easily.

"Then let's take our relationship to the next level," Ryoga replied and the two began to lean towards each other.

"Hey, Ryoga, you paying attention?" Akane suddenly asked in slight annoyance, prompting the boy to be blasted unpleasantly out of his daydream and back to reality. Akane was beside him, adjusting his arm position, a frown on her face.

"Sorry, sorry!" Ryoga quickly blurt out.

"It's alright," Akane assured him. "Now, remember, breathe."

"Right, right, breathe..." Ryoga replied, refocusing on his target, taking in several long breaths as he steadied himself. 'Who am I kidding, I could never be that confident,' he thought, frowning at his own weakness. Taking another second to refocus on the task at hand, he thrust his hand forward. This time the attack formed and executed correctly, but went astray of its target, knocking over only a brick on the side.

"That's good," Akane encouraged, rushing to the bricks to reset. "Just need to control the aim more."

"Right," Ryoga replied, watching Akane as he considered. 'Maybe if I just... went for it,' he thought, envisioning himself rushing to Akane's side.

In the vision, Akane turned to Ryoga curiously just as he took her firmly by the shoulders. Momentarily stunned with surprise, Akane gave Ryoga an opening to lean in. But the opportunity was quickly lost as Akane screamed out and batted him away. "What do you think you're doing, you lech!"

The vision shattered and Ryoga shook it off. 'No, no, terrible, terrible! Akane would think I'm sort of over aggressive pervert!'

"You ready, Ryoga?" Akane asked as she finished her reset and moved back to her position.

"Uh... just a second," he replied, once more resetting his stance. 'Maybe... maybe I should just wait till Akane makes the first move... but then, what if is she is waiting for me to make the first move? What if she thinks I'm some sort of coward?' Ryoga thought with increasing tension.

"Ryoga!"

"Wha!" Ryoga said in surprise, seeing Akane giving him a concerned look.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied with a nervous smile. 'I am such a coward!' Shaking this thought off, Ryoga refocused. As he took in the breaths for the technique and took focus, he came to a new thought. 'If I could just build up the courage to ask...' he thought before taking another shot at the bricks. This time the aim was true, but power off, merely rocking the pile. Ryoga growled in annoyance.

"No, that's good. You were right on target," Akane encourage. "Try again. Why don't you envision the bricks as something, like Ranma," she suggested.

Ryoga looked to Akane in surprise at the suggestion, then refocused. After another couple seconds of setup, Ryoga let out a battle cry and the bricks were obliterated.

"Well... that worked," Akane said nervously.

'I hate him so much... always so full of himself, and self assured, and confident... and everything I'm not,' Ryoga thought with a frown. 'Damn it, Ryoga! Be a man for once!'

Despite the inner pep talk, the moment he looked to Akane, Ryoga's nerves returned, and he soon found himself laughing nervously while rubbing his hair.

"Here, let me get some more bricks and we'll try again, this time with a bit more control of the power," Akane said as she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Ryoga said unexpectedly, surprising both Akane and himself. Akane looked to him curiously as the boy fought with his own doubts. "Akane... do... I mean... do you think... uh..."

"Yes?" Akane asked.

"Are you... do you..." Ryoga said, but found his mouth dry and his mind empty of words. "Uh..."

Akane began walking over to him. "Is there something you wanted, Ryoga?" she asked with a calming smile.

"Ah..." Ryoga responded, Akane's expression throwing him, but also giving him confidence. "Akane, do you-"

"Akane!" the sudden voice of Happosai called out as he jumped in through the open doorway, and directly into the bosom of Akane. Naturally, this had quite the aggressive reaction from the girl who attempted to smash him through the floorboards. The old man proved elusive though, and dodged her attack, laughing happily as he jumped off Ryoga's stunned head, sending the boy face first to the floor.

Angered by this, Ryoga growled in frustrated and quickly pushed himself off the ground to pursue the old man. He ran out after Happosai, yelling, "Stop right there you pervert! How dare you grope Akane!"

Back in the dojo, Akane let her anger go with a sigh. 'I wonder if he realizes I'm just as nervous as he is?' she thought before shaking the consideration away. 'Another day,' she concluded and when a thunderclap and Shampoo's own battle cry could be heard, Akane rushed off to join yet another attempt to bring the old man down.

XXXXX

Late that night, Mousse was sitting in the empty Ucchan's. He looked at the door then got up and walked into the back room. A moment later he returned carrying a bottle and sat down at a table.

'Where the hell is she? You'd think she'd at least call,' he thought taking a sip from the drink before pulling out a picture of Shampoo. It was one he had recently acquired after witnessing a run into between Ryoga and Kuno. The latter had a number of these in his possession, and this particular one had been forgotten in the scuffle.

In the picture, Shampoo was smiling as she was serving customers at the Nekohanten. It was evidently taken some time ago, before she had her hair cut. The look and the smile had prompted Mousse to keep the picture for himself, although he could little understand why. Even now, looking at it only brought him sadness.

"Shampoo," he mumbled as he looked at the picture, taking another long sip from the bottle before looking at it in irritation. 'If only I could get drunk on soda pop,' he thought before sighing and putting the picture of Shampoo away. In its place, he removed one of Ranma. This one Mousse had acquired himself and showed the boy smiling smugly, over what Mousse could not quite remember, but it made little difference.

'What do women see in you anyway?' Mousse thought with a scowl. Pulling a dartboard out, he fixed the picture on the board and hung it on the wall. Returning to his original position, Mousse pulled out a throwing dagger. 'I work my whole life to get her and you stole her from me,' he thought, tossing the dagger into the photo, directly between the eyes.

'I'd love to do that for real,' he thought then sighed and shook his head. 'Yeah, and Shampoo would probably use the same dagger to tear my heart out.' Pulling another dagger out, Mousse continued his thoughts. 'Jerk couldn't even be satisfied with one woman. No, he had to toy with others too. Akane, Kodachi, well she's crazy, who'd want her anyway. Even Ukyo.'

The dagger was thrown and once more hit its target. 'What kind of a jerk makes a woman fall in love with him then runs off?' he thought with increasing anger, quickly pulling out and throwing daggers. 'I'd never do that, but what do I get?' he thought with another projectile hitting home. 'Nothing! Can't even get Perfume to like me, not that that ever had a chance but still... At least she doesn't love the guy,' he thought, before looking to the door. 'Where the hell is Ukyo?'

With no signs of the chef, Mousse looked back at the picture, now with a dagger in each eye, one in the throat and the original one between the eyes. Frowning, he grabbed his drink, finished it off then got up and headed into the back room.

It was at this moment that Ukyo came in, tired. She looked across at the dartboard and raised an eyebrow just as Mousse came out from the back and saw her.

"You're back," he said with some relief.

"Yeah," she said before asking, "A little diversion?"

"Huh?" Mousse initially responded before tracing Ukyo's line of sight to the dartboard. "Ah, sort of. Where you been?"

"Just sorting things out," Ukyo answered as she walked over to the dartboard. She removed the daggers and then the picture, pausing to look at it for a moment. "Hating him won't change anything."

"I know, but it gives me something to do with my time," Mousse replied.

Ukyo crumbled up the picture and threw it into a nearby waste basket. "Well, it's not worth driving yourself nuts over. Ranma, Shampoo, they're both lost to us. You should find someone else to give your affections to," she said before heading behind the grill.

"Uh, Perfume is in your room," Mousse said getting a tired sigh from Ukyo in response. "She was waiting for you to get back and fell asleep so I put her in there for a while. I can go wake her if-"

"Nah, let her sleep. I got things to do anyway," Ukyo replied, taking a cloth out and rubbing down the grill.

Mousse opened his mouth to say he had already cleaned, but quickly dropped this and instead sat grill side across from Ukyo. "You okay?"

"No," Ukyo replied simply. "But I'm managing," she said after another moment and stopped her cleaning. Mousse watched as Ukyo pulled throwing spatulas from her bandoleer and placed them on the grill surface. "You know, ages ago, when I was first training my cooking, I got rather good at showing off," she said, demonstrating with a bit of juggling of the spatulas. "Of course, this kind of stuff is pretty pointless."

"Yeah, I guess," Mousse replied in puzzlement.

"But I was thinking..." Ukyo continued adding more spatulas to her display. "A lot of this is about speed and coordination, not that unlike the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken."

"I suppose," Mousse agreed. "But, it is still slower."

"Yeah," Ukyo agreed, ending her display by placing each spatula at the edge of the grill, handle in the open. "And a big part of the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken training is knowing that if you're not fast enough, you'll regret it." So saying, Ukyo unexpectedly turned the grill on. Mousse tensed at seeing this but said nothing.

After a moment, Ukyo gingerly neared the first spatula handle before growing determined and quickly snatching it up flipping it into the air, grabbing it once more and laying it back on the grill in its original position. Mousse watched this is shock as it was far more than Ukyo had managed since her encounter with Cologne. Ukyo paused a moment to blow on her hand before repeating the feat, even faster this time, then again even faster still. "This could work," she mumbled.

"How in this..." Mousse said in puzzlement.

"This is how I first started learning to do that flashy stuff when I was a kid. Haven't bothered with it much lately so I never realized I could go so much faster now if I just push myself," Ukyo replied, continuing the feat, this time with two spatulas. "Akane was right. I've been going about this all wrong. I should have tried this from the start," she said as she moved onto three spatulas, and then four.

"You won't even need the pill at this rate," Mousse said optimistically, but Ukyo shook her head.

"No. The grill is at its minimum setting, and this is imprecise at best. Maybe if I was serving up fast food but this is nowhere near good enough for my masterpieces," Ukyo explained as she continued on. "I'm still going to need to confront that damned ghoul, but at this rate..." she said, now working her way through her full collection of throwing spatulas.

"This just might work," Mousse said optimistically.

"Yeah, and I think I have a few ideas to improve my odds even further," Ukyo added with a smile.

XXXXX

The next morning, Ukyo was on the march to the Nekohanten, Mousse following beside her. The chef was by all appearances ready for war, her normal bandoleer of spatulas joined by another, and even a belt, tripling her normal supply of throwing weapons, along with a her usual battle spatula and a new pair of gloves.

"You sure about this?" Mousse asked.

"I'm positive. I'm not waiting another day," Ukyo replied.

"Still, I got a feeling Cologne won't make it easy," Mousse cautioned.

Ukyo laughed briefly. "Of course she won't. Still, I'm not backing down."

Mousse nodded in understanding as the pair approached the Nekohanten. Mousse let Ukyo lead the way in, and walked in after her.

Early in the morning, the ramen restaurant had only a few customers who eyed the newcomers curiously. In the back, Soon Li looked out.

"Okay, ghoul, where are you? I'm here for that pill!" Ukyo called out in challenge. Getting no response, Ukyo looked around, stopping at Soon Li. "Where is she?"

"I'm not sure actually. She and Perfume were here a moment ago," Soon Li responded in some confusion.

Irritated, Ukyo started walking to the back. "Hey you old hag, where are you hid-" Ukyo started to say then promptly disappeared straight through a trapdoor in the floor.

"Funny, I don't remember any trapdoors," Soon Li said calmly.

XXXXX

Ukyo was naturally taken off guard and found herself sliding down a dark chute. Before she could get her bearings, a light shone from below and she found herself popping out into a large room. Rolling to a stop, Ukyo looked around in irritation then shock at the sight around her. "What the hell..."

"Do you like it? I had it prepared especially for you," Cologne called out.

Ukyo looked around to find the elder balanced atop of pole in the center of a large pit, with many similar poles of various heights and orientations surrounding her. Ukyo turned her attention around the room, noting it to be several times the size of the whole of the Nekohanten. "Where are we? There is no way this big of a place is under the Nekohanten!"

"This is a special training ground I have access to. It is quite handy for times like this as a test grounds," Cologne replied.

Ukyo got up and and walked to the edge of the pit and looked down, only to cringe. Below the pit was filled with flaming coals. "You gotta be kidding me..." Ukyo mumbled.

At that moment, a doorway opened and Mousse rushed in. "Ukyo!" he called out before slowing at noticing their surroundings. "What is all this?"

"Don't make me repeat myself," Cologne said with a frown. "Besides, you are not part of this, Mousse."

"I don't have to listen to you, and can be part of whatever I like," Mousse countered before joining Ukyo at the pit side. "Hey!" he complained, looking up at the elder in accusation.

"I thought you Amazons had some honor?" Ukyo said.

"We do. Did I ever say that the location of our battle would be a balanced fighting ground?" Cologne asked.

"This is unfair as hell and you know it!" Mousse yelled back.

"All is fair in love and war," Cologne countered.

"I thought you wanted me to marry Perfume?" Ukyo asked.

Cologne huffed. "Yes, I've been thinking on that. Considering your abysmal display last time, I'm not so sure I do anymore. Consider that part of the test. If you survive, you can at least claim that I approve of you joining the village."

Mousse angrily growled at the elder, "Why you-"

"Mousse, drop it," Ukyo said unexpectedly.

Mousse reluctantly let himself relax, and looked around, for the first time noticing Perfume at the other end of the room, looking nervous. "Alright, be careful," he said, getting a nod from Ukyo before heading over to join Perfume.

"Okay ghoul, tricks or no tricks I'm getting that amulet. You better live up to the deal," Ukyo yelled out.

"If I lose the amulet, the pill will be yours," Cologne replied. "Assuming you survive, but fail to acquire it..."

"I marry Perfume," Ukyo reluctantly concluded, giving said Amazon a brief look. "Right. Let's get this over with." Ukyo readied her battle spatula and jumped onto the nearest pole. The pole flexed with her weight, momentarily causing her to pause and readjust her balance before repeating the process several more times until she was in range. On the last hop, she used the flex of the pole to boost her next jump and came down on Cologne with a slash of her weapon.

Cologne was unfazed and easily hopped off her pole to an adjacent one, evading the attack, looking back curiously as Ukyo plummeted. "Rather reckless," she observed, only to see Ukyo slam her spatula into the coals and use it to balance on. "Are you trying to get yourself killed, Miss Kuonji?" Cologne asked with a smirk.

"Hardly," Ukyo replied and leaped off her spatula onto a nearby pole. There she swept her hand to the side curiously, then appeared to grab something. With a firm tug, her spatula came loose and seemed to fly back to her hand.

"Filament wire, practically invisible," Cologne observed. "I hope you aren't planning to use such simple tricks against me."

"Not my style, I just like to keep my equipment," Ukyo replied and leaped into the air on the attack again.

Projecting the chef's path, Cologne calmly waved her staff at an adjacent pole before moving to block a downward thrust from Ukyo. As expected, Ukyo landed on the adjacent pole, but as she did, it cleanly cut diagonally, putting Ukyo off balance. Ukyo cried out, but managed to reach out and grab the pole with her hand before falling far. With some quick thinking, she also used the momentum to spin her around the pole and directed a kick at the elder. Cologne, though, simple ducked calmly under the attack.

Deciding her position was too precarious, Ukyo released the pole to land in the coals below with her spatula once more, and again returned to the relative safety of another pole and retrieved her weapon.

"I must say, you're not impressing," Cologne said with a shake of her head. "I'll hardly even need to fight at this rate. You'll exhaust yourself long before I have to."

'Yeah, you just keep thinking that,' Ukyo thought before launching herself into another attack. However, this time she threw her battle spatula directly at the pole Cologne was on.

Cologne eyed the attack curiously. 'Not hard enough to cut the pole,' the elder mentally observed, then smiled. 'Ah, a place to stand.'

Sure enough, the spatula embedded itself just deep enough in the pole to allow Ukyo to land on it, and give her a clear shot at the elder. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ukyo yelled out as her arms entered a blur. Cologne though held her ground and met the attack with a blur of fist of her own.

"Impressive, you learned one of the Amazons' greatest techniques. Perhaps I was wrong about you. You just might make a good addition to the village after all," Cologne said as the two continued their exchange, but finished with a blow that forced Ukyo back.

Ukyo quickly pulled on the wire to free her spatula and used it to rescue herself once more before returning to another pole. "Damn," she mumbled.

"You didn't actually think you could make it through my defenses did you. I am a master of that technique," Cologne said.

"Yeah, well I got a couple of modifications to show you," Ukyo replied and readied herself. An instant later she flashed into motion, unloading all her throwing spatulas at the elder.

Cologne frowned, deflecting a few initial ones, but then was forced to abandon her pole for the air. There she found Ukyo already airborne to intercept her. The two exchange a blur of punches in the air before their respective flight paths forced them apart to land opposite one another.

As they turned to face each other, Cologne said, "If that's the best you have Ms. Kuonji this battle is all but over."

"I haven't lost yet," Ukyo replied defiantly before leaping onto the attack again. However, as she did Cologne whirled her staff suspiciously. A sense of danger from below caused Ukyo to look down just in time to see a whirl wind wiping up the flaming coals from below and firing them directly into her path. "Damn it!" Ukyo cried out as she fended off the unexpected attack.

Unfortunately for the chef, Cologne pressed the attack, forcing Ukyo to miss her planned landing spot. Only with great effort did Ukyo manage to recover at the last moment, landing in the coals using her spatula once more, but being force to deflect the coals flying at her by hand. Finally though, after nearly 30 seconds of this assault, Cologne let up, allowing Ukyo to recover.

"Do you now understand the difference between us?" Cologne asked as Ukyo again returned to a higher pole and retrieved her weapon.

"Yeah, you're short and ugly and I'm not," Ukyo replied, causing Cologne to scowl.

"The trouble with you is that you don't know when you're beat," Cologne said.

"The trouble with you is that you are overconfident," Ukyo countered, slipping off her gloves to reveal her hands wrapped in moist cloth. Readied, Ukyo jumped into the air once again.

'Another frontal attack?' Cologne thought as Ukyo tossed her battle spatula ahead of herself again.

"Try this. Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken revised, Okonomiyaki Art of the Flaming Fist!" Ukyo called out just as she came into land, and let loose a blur of punches.

Cologne intercepted these as she had before, remaining cautious but after a few seconds, nothing seemed to be changed. "Revised?! This is no different than before," Cologne said.

Ukyo smiled and replied, "Wait for it."

Suddenly, as Cologne continued to block and counter a flash of flame appeared next to her. 'What?' she thought in puzzlement. Soon, it was joined by others with ever increasing size. Startled and uncertain what exactly was happening, Cologne was forced onto the defense until her shirt caught on fire and pushed her to withdraw. However as she landed, she felt a distinct absence around her neck.

"Got it!" Ukyo called out happily as Cologne looked over. Down below, Perfume and Mousse cheered the chef's triumph.

Patting out the small flame on her shirt, Cologne nodded as she finally understood. "Most impressive. Some sort of flammable liquid in the cloth I would guess."

Ukyo looked back at the elder. "Just a little cooking alcohol. Quite effective I think. Now, where's the pill?"

"In the amulet, where else?" Cologne replied with a smile.

"What?" Ukyo said in surprise, and after examining the necklace found it opened and a pill was inside.

"The best place to hide something is in plain view, do you not agree?" Cologne commented before hopping down to the edge of the pit. There she paused. "I am pleasantly surprised. You show some talent and ingenuity. You'll make a fine wife for Perfume."

Ukyo glared at the old woman, but let the matter pass. For today at least, victory was her's and she was not about to let the old crone ruin it.

XXXXX

A short time later at Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, Ukyo was making up for lost time. With a dozen okonomiyaki sent spinning in the air, she joyfully called out, "Wooohooo! Yes!" The okonomiyaki obediently landed on the plates of several of her customers along with Ranma, Shampoo, Akane, Ryoga, Mousse and Perfume.

"Glad to see your feeling better there, Ukyo," Ranma said with a smile.

"Better?! Better?! I'm ecstatic! I feel like celebrating! You guys want to go out?" Ukyo asked.

"Sure," came several replies, along with various nods.

"Ukyo is going to take me on date?" Perfume asked.

"It's not a date, we're just going out. It's not a date, okay?!" Ukyo quickly corrected.

Perfume hung her head in some disappointment. "Okay," she mumbled.

They spent the next several minutes eating their food and talking, while congratulating Ukyo on her recovery and victory. Finally, Ukyo closed up shop and the group started to head out, Mousse being in the rear. He paused just inside the door, looking to Ukyo in consideration, then pulled out the picture of Shampoo.

"Mousse, you coming or what?" Ukyo called out from outside.

"Ah, yeah, be right with you," Mousse responded, giving the picture one last look before throwing it into the wastebasket. "Ukyo, wait up!" he called after them as he closed the door and rushed off.

XXXXX

Far away in China there was quite a different atmosphere. A familiar sunglasses wearing boy walked down a street with a frown as several people came running the opposite way, screaming out, "Ghost!"

It was not long before the boy spotted his target, a large floating bell, slowly making its way up the street towards him, swaying slowly side to side.

"I thought we had an agreement, Cat?" the boy said as he came to a stop and confronted the bell.

"Oh, it's all no good, nyah," came the depressed voice of the Maomolin.

"Let me guess, your little scheme didn't work out so well," the boy said.

The cat materialized, looking thoroughly miserable to the boy's eyes. "It was a disaster, nyah."

"Well, that's no surprise," the boy said with a shake of his head. "Now, why don't you mope about it somewhere uninhabited. There is nice abandoned mill over by the river..."

"It's all pointless, nyah," the cat moaned, seeming to ignore the boy. "I'll never get my bride now."

Sighing, the boy shook his head. 'Great, just what I need, a depressed ghost.' "Okay, what happened?"

"It was a disaster-"

"Yeah, you already said that. Refused to marry you did she?" the boy asked.

The Maomolin sadly nodded, looking near tears.

"So? What's the big deal? Not like she hasn't done that before, right?" the boy asked.

The Maomolin nervously rubbed his paws together. "I really messed up this time, nyah. She's really, REALLY mad. Oh, and she has a fiance too."

The boy's interest peaked at this. "Fiance? Oh... how interesting. Tell me more..." he said with a devious smile.

%End Chapter 15


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